


The BSAA Captain and the Rookie

by HentaiPrincess06



Series: The C-Verse (post RE2Remake) [1]
Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse), Resident Evil - All Media Types
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bitterness, Bittersweet, Canon-Typical Violence, Canon: Resident Evil 2 Remake (Video Game 2019), Comfort, Confusion, Crack Treated Seriously, Crossing Timelines, Different versions of Leon with Daddy Chris basically, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Dubious Consent, Dubious Ethics, Dubious Morality, Dubious Science, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Smut, Eventual relationship, First Meetings, First Time, First Time Bottoming, First Time Topping, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Smut, French Kissing, Hurt/Comfort, Inspired by Twitter, Kisses, Lost Love, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, Mutual Pining, Name Changes, Neck Kissing, Nicknames, Past, Pet Names, Pining, Post-Canon, Post-Resident Evil 2, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Resident Evil 2 Remake, Romantic Fluff, Rough Kissing, Rough Sex, Sad with a Happy Ending, Sexual Confusion, Showers, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Sweet, Time Loop, Time Skips, Time Travel, Timeline Fuckery, Vendetta!Chris meets RE2Remake!Leon, Will edit tags as story develops, help me, trashfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-01
Updated: 2019-04-21
Packaged: 2019-11-07 14:14:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 33,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17962115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HentaiPrincess06/pseuds/HentaiPrincess06
Summary: Summary: Eventual relationship. Eventual smut. Multiple chapters.Fulfilling a Twitter promise of a trashfic where Chris accidentally travels back in time to re-encounter all the different versions of Leon Scott Kennedy. Basically, Chris is reminded how sweet Leon used to be and uh...attempts to replace Leon’s alcohol consumption with something else. Possibly multiple fics if enough people like it.Might be called the “C-verse” because it revolves around “Chris Redfield” and “Chronos (or, time)”.Current Pairing: Vendetta!Chris/RE2 Remake LeonPossible Eventual Pairing(s), if enough people like: Vendetta!Chris/ RE4 Leon, Vendetta!Chris/RE6 LeonTLDR Summary: Chris Redfield had not expected Leon to spiral down into the bottom of a bottle of booze. A little accident at the defunct Arias lab allows him to begin experiencing Leon all over again, but with a new perspective.





	1. Drunk and Rookie

**Author's Note:**

> Author’s Notes:  
> "He's been in this as long as I have. I trust him." -Leon, about Chris, to Helena, Resident Evil 6 
> 
> I started with that quote, because Vendetta Leon is a drunk mess and it’s hard for me to get a handle on him without feeling sad. I also am following the canon of “Resident Evil Darkside Chronicles” where Leon tracks down Chris Redfield after Claire goes missing, most likely after he starts working as a D.S.O. Agent for the government, because that kind of position will give him the resources he needs to do that. (youtube video showing the scene I’m working off of, here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6sf4hdYv-k)
> 
> \---
> 
> Tweets for Reference:  
> https://twitter.com/targsno/status/1097139340130566146 (“I’m home” by @targsno)  
> https://twitter.com/Wwwynttt/status/1098844628646875137 (Vendetta!Chris and RE2!Leon by@Wwwynttt)  
> https://twitter.com/HPrincess06/status/1099363358401191936 (50 likes post)

 

 

 

_“He’s been in this as long as I have. I trust him.”_

 

Chris Redfield and Leon Scott Kennedy rarely had time to chat. Even when they did, it was on duty; so typically, it was B.O.W. related. Even when it wasn’t B.O.W. related, it was mission related for sure (informational exchange and the like). Even when it was off-duty, it was usually the typical ptsd-related chit-chat; and that only happened every other month when they happened to cross paths between one assignment to the next. Government officers were technically, never off-duty.

 

Leon for one, had been annoyed by the recent development of his vacation turning into a mission of survival and neutralizing yet more B.O.W.’s, and rescue.  He hadn’t thought that he’d see Chris and Rebecca again so soon; and in the middle of his drunken sorrows, to boot. Though Leon did like the advice Chris gave him of never making plans too far ahead on life, Leon quickly decided that after the shit with Arias, he was due for an extension of his vacation. Something Hunnigan was all too happy to hear--she knew exactly how much Kennedy had been through, working closely all these years.

 

_“Is this what my life’s supposed to be?”_

 

Chris for one, was glad Claire wasn’t right there, right now, to witness Leon’s terrible case of Ada Wong withdrawal. From the reports, and from how they’d had to draw their guns on each other, it was more than a little obvious that Leon had known about Ada way, way, before Chris had met the D.S.O. agent in person. That, was information that wasn’t classified--it’s just that Leon didn’t think anyone needed to know what he’d known about Ada before all of this. Something Chris still wanted to punch the man out for--but he wasn’t so undisciplined as a soldier.

 

_“Fighting the living dead and the bastards that make ‘em…”_

 

In the end, they still got the bad guys. They got Rebecca back. They even cured New York. Surely, even someone as tired as Leon, who never wanted any of this, couldn’t be so sour. At least, Chris thought so.

 

_“What’s the point of it all?”_

 

For now, they didn’t need to ‘go on’ to do anything. Maybe New York was too big of a cleanup job. Maybe the conflict was so large that other companies with similar ideas decided to go underground. Maybe, it was just a matter of time til the next call...but they had time.

 

_“How much longer can we keep going on like this?”_

 

Technically, they were both still on call. Technically--and since they were still in the same vicinity, and both on-call-but-off-duty...it was both Redfield’s and Kennedy’s responsibility to keep an eye on one another. This arrangement, was something Leon only agreed to after Chris offered to call Hunnigan in order to make the arrangement official, to which Leon bartered with him on...until they both settled with Chris buying Leon a drink.

 

_“...I dunno. I never make plans that far ahead.”_

 

So, despite the trash fire that had been their most recent encounter, after it was all over (for now, anyway), Chris _did_ buy Leon a drink. Or rather, a bottle, apparently. Chris paid anyway.

 

Soon the B.S.A.A. captain was recalling that very recent horrible meeting in the little no-name town; remembering how they’d found Leon in the exact same situation Chris himself had been in after losing his own team at Edonia; remembering when said blond even had the nerve to poke fun at Rebecca by calling her “Doctor High Hopes”, of all people. It had broken her heart.

 

It had broken his, too.

 

Fortunately, Claire also hadn’t been there to see the drunken sarcasm and salt, so Leon hadn’t managed to break her heart as well. Chris was determined to keep things that way; he was lucky to have someone around when he started to drown his sorrows away. He could at least be company for Leon when he did as well.

 

If Chris could go back in time, he’d go back to that little no-name bar and do right by Leon the second time. He’d have probably said something different right then and there; Leon had been grieving after all. They’d been in a hurry; he’d been too brash.

 

When it came down to it, Leon had their back just like any one of his men did. Both he and Leon knew, there were no second chances; you saved the man at your back, or you couldn’t. That was that.

 

They left the bar earlier than planned; Chris’ idea. Being there in the first place had been Leon’s.

 

“So, how long before we’re back to back popping B.O.W. heads do you think?” Leon’s sarcastic laugh was almost a sneer as they made their way up; he was still holding the bottle.

 

“I’d say not until vacation’s over, for you.” Chris said with a light humor, glancing back down the winding flight of stairs out of habit; just to make sure they weren’t being followed. “So maybe a good twenty-four hours.”

 

Leon snorted.

 

Chris thought about reprimanding the other agent for being so careless...but judging from the man’s cat-like reflexes he’d witnessed when they’d battled Arias on the rooftop just a night ago...Leon could afford to be a little laid back.

 

In all honesty, Chris had to admit he had been surprised by the younger man’s agility.

 

They made it to one of Chris’ safehomes--or rather, “safe-apartments” just on the outskirts of New York. Exact location classified, at least, it should still have been. Though it was an assumption that after the destruction and media attention of the city, whatever was left of Arias’ group would lay low for the time being.

 

Upon entering, Chris had made it a priority to get a couple glasses out for himself and Leon, lest the D.S.O. agent drink straight from the bottle he’d brought back.

 

The apartment was like every other one they had; plain and simple, single bedroom, closet, drawers, cabinets, and every nook full of ammo and guns. The usual. Could never be too careful.

 

Leon had managed to saunter his way over to settle on the one sunchair that was sat out on the small balcony, where he had enough space to stretch his legs. Something Chris’s size and mass wouldn’t have allowed him to do.

 

“What other plans you got?” Leon’s question was loaded, just like the guns strapped on his side, under his jacket. He shifted his weight on the chair slightly, so that the firearms didn’t rub into his ribs.

 

Chris had come out by then, settling for leaning against the sliding door. There was just enough room lenght-wise on the balcony for the two of them and nobody else. Though Chris had taken his own jacket and bulletproof vest off and was left in just his black v-neck, the straps on his hips were still there.

 

Neither of them was unarmed. Ever.

 

“Other than babysitting _you_?” Chris asked, though there was no sarcasm in his voice. “Not much. Aside from you, Rebecca asked me to come meet tomorrow at oh-nine-hundred.”

 

The blond took another sip, not minding the jab more than outright ignoring it. Ain’t no rest for anyone, wicked or good, he thought. “What for?”

 

Chris took note of how different a calmly drunk Leon was when compared to a grieving drunk Leon. It didn’t take much to put himself in Leon’s shoes; this time, Leon managed to save the familiar faces that relied on him.

 

Chris realized he was one of those faces.

 

“The search and recovery crews found more underneath Arias’ headquarters.” the Chris explained.

 

Leon’s gaze narrowed upon hearing that; it took him back to that first night, a long, long time ago. “Just like the N.E.S.T. huh?”

 

At the moment, Leon couldn’t see the lights and the shadows of New York, nor the moving shapes of the helicopters that ferried teams into, and civilians out of the city. Instead he saw the buildings of Racoon City, the backdrop of the Arklay mountains...the long road past the Mizoil Gas Station where a highschool friend threw up once…

 

...being on the balcony with Chris Redfield of all people, actually _enjoying_ both company and a drink didn’t feel real.

 

“Something like that.” Chris didn’t like where the conversation was headed, it got heavy too quick; he’d prefer something that didn’t feel like heading into enemy territory. “They were working on other things too.”

 

Silence. Both men were deep in thought. Where else could the conversation go between two B.O.W.-battle-hardened men go?

 

Leon made a move to say something, but was interrupted.

 

“We made a pretty good team.” Chris said suddenly.

 

More confused than surprised, Leon looked up to side-eye the larger man. He was about to reply, but forgot so, his thoughts flashing back to more recent events. There was something on the tip of Leon’s tongue; but the words remained unspoken. As long as Chris hadn’t seen him attempt to speak, Leon decided that perhaps he needn’t say what he had wanted to.

 

More silence.

 

Chris didn’t look back, instead focusing on the shapes of New York, still lit and bright, the city that never slept could not be put to rest so easily. The alliance captain could only hope that his interruption could pull Kennedy back to the city they were looking at now, instead of the city in his mind.

 

Leon stopped side-eyeing Chris. “How’s Claire?”

 

There it was, Chris thought. The little bit of the persistently resilient man Leon Scott Kennedy truly was. It made the sight of tired blond even more painful to look at, for Chris.

 

Leon poured himself another glass. He eyed Chris a little bit, having taken note of how he himself was being scrutinized by the man's eyes. Leon could see the judgement in Chris’s eyes; he’d stared down scarier things than Chris, though. Or...was it...something else? Could Leon dare hope? The situation was too awkward.

 

Up until the incident at Harvardville Airport, both Redfields and Kennedy hadn’t kept up with each other’s activities. Even now, it was hard; though the scarce meetings they did have provided some solace. Each new meeting reminded them all of the last time they’d met by chance, and there was an unspoken rule between the three of them of looking forward to the next. They’d all lost too much, but they dared hope that the chance encounters could continue.

 

“She’s visiting Rani.” Chris answered shortly, then adding after a sip of his own drink, still leaning against the sliding glass window at the view, “While Sherry’s still there on vacation.”

 

Classified information, but Leon already knew that. He smiled. “I see.”

 

\---

 

Chris didn’t sleep soundly that night.

 

Neither did Leon; who woke up spluttering and almost screaming a few times. But the blond had always caught himself, gasping and clasping a fist over his mouth to keep himself from making any noises he’d regret.

 

It was a pattern, one that Chris picked up on very quickly. Leon would always notice him out of the corner of his eye, sleeping on the cot on the floor, before his breathing would steady. He sighed, laid back down and went quiet.

 

By morning, Leon had woken up, and as a consequence, woken Chris up (they both had hairline-thin triggers when it came to sleep), at least five times.

 

“Sleep at all?” Chris asked; he’d gone ahead and brewed them both each a cup of coffee, black.

 

Leon was still sitting up in bed, staring at the sheets in deep thought when Chris came back with his cup to put it on the side-desk.

 

“Just a nightmare.” Leon responded with a white lie.

 

Chris saw through it. “Sure it was just the one nightmare?”

 

Leon figured that he deserved the nightmares. He gave Chris a wry “I’ve had worse nightmares while I’m awake. I’m fine.”

 

From the now-all-too-familiar story Claire had told Chris about when Leon and her had first met, he’d been nothing but a good-intentioned rookie cop when he was roped into this mess. The newly recruited and trained government agent who had tracked him down just to tell him about Claire going missing, had been a slightly hardened version of the Leon that his sister knew. Even then, there was a token goodness in those bright blue eyes, even in the tired man on his bed now.

 

Sometimes, it was just a little hard to see. If Chris hadn’t known better, he would think Leon was just some trashy drunk asshole.

 

“Don’t go anywhere. I’m heading out to meet Rebecca.” Chris ordered in a firm tone.

 

Leon merely snorted. He didn’t have plans to go anywhere with a hangover-induced migraine that felt like a tyrant’s consecutive punches. “Jeez, at least a good morning kiss would’ve been nice.”

 

Chris let the sarcastic remark slip. “Water’s in the fridge. Coffee’s still hot, drink it. Let you know when I’ll be back.”

 

Leon was dejected, but he wasn’t going to say anything. His pride didn’t allow him to wine. Leon simply waved a dismissive hand as Chris left the room. He heard the door open, then a click as it closed. Leon gripped the sheets.

 

They smelled like military grade gunpowder, coffee, and a very particular, very familiar, musky sweat.

 

Leon clenched his jaw.

 

\---

 

Not even a day away from it, Chris returned to the Arias building. The streets of New York had always been familiar. He’d had details, meetings, and other duties in the city before. It was nice to know that Arias and his company weren’t going to be bothering the big apple any longer. It was also a nice sight to see that the splattered pieces of Arias were scrubbed off the street, like he was never there before.

 

It was the little things like this that kept him going. A fleeting thought of maybe sharing the sentiment with Leon while they were currently rooming with each other came to mind, before he spotted Rebecca. Chris went up to her just as a couple of rescue crew that Chris could tell were from TerraSave from their uniforms. He felt a tinge of pride for Claire.

 

“Thanks for coming, Chris.” Rebecca said, geared up as much as everyone else was.

 

“It’s nothing. We’re off-duty anyway. Technically.” Chris corrected himself, a little smugly.

 

“Leon’s not here?” she inquired. “I...I wanted to thank him. If he hadn’t come...we wouldn’t have--”

 

“He’s got a hangover.” Chris chuckled reassuringly.

 

Rebecca couldn’t help but laugh at that, considering how this entire incident started. It was funny, how recent it all was. It felt like it had happened so long ago that they’d met at that bar.

 

The pair took the elevator down, Chris noticing the skid-marks of a motorbike on the floor. Once again, he was grateful for the messy hungover man who was probably still at the apartment, in bed, letting the coffee he’d made for him get cold.

 

As they went further and further down, Chris felt his stomach rise a little--they really were going deep underground. Figures that all these corporations would have the same evil-master-plan layout; underground laboratory included.

 

“They just want me to take a look at some of the equipment and data down here and see what we can use.” Rebecca explained. “There might be some things I’ll need to relay back up if they’re out of my expertise.”

 

“Take as much time as you need.” Chris insisted with a smile.

 

It was one of those rare times that the feeling of near-domestic-normalcy was in the air. Though they were still dealing with weapons, bio-weapons, serums, viruses and recovering data, having Rebecca look so enthusiastic reminded Chris that there was a tomorrow for him yet. Granted, the feeling could be short-lived, just in case there was something down here that could potentially wake up and wreak havoc...but he was here, and he could take care of that.

 

He knew he could.

 

After a few hours, nearing the afternoon, Rebecca had gathered most of what she could identify and was this time being called over further into the laboratory. Chris, having accompanied her the entire day, found himself actually curious about some of the things she’d been finding and explaining to him. So, naturally, he went along with her.

 

“This is the last of it.” said one of the other crew members, who was leading them into the center of the laboratory. “We’re not quite sure what to make of it.”

 

“Let me have a look.” Rebecca replied, heading over to what seemed to be a collection of computers and machines.

 

In the center of the room was a waist-high (for Chris), circular piece of machinery nobody could identify, damaged like some other parts of the laboratory, thanks to the earlier chaos. As best as anyone could guess, it seemed to be a server or some sort.

 

Chris watched, a little wary of some of the other bio-weapon test subjects they had discovered and were still due for extraction and disposal. He’d already called in, recommending an on-site disposal to avoid ‘waking’ any of the specimens in the middle of extraction.

 

For which, he was thanked--and reprimanded by Hannigan who had by now been working with the B.S.A.A. thanks to the situation--for working on his vacation.

 

“He’s fine.” Chris reassured Hannigan when she started to complain that Leon hadn’t checked in. “Just nursing a headache.”

 

Meanwhile, Rebecca had begun to gesture to Chris. “Chris, can you help me with something here? The terminals are all disconnected from each other somewhere. I think it’s the machine at the center. We’ll need to reconnect everything.”

 

“Sure.” Chris told her, before heading over, still talking to Hannigan.

 

 _“Please remind him that he’s still on-call. I can’t patch through.”_ Hannigan requested.

 

“Is it urgent?” Chris asked, concerned now that Leon would be back on the job so soon.

 

 _“Not a mission.”_ Hannigan said, sounding relieved that Leon was fine.

 

A few of the crew that had been there for awhile had been messing with some wires. Rebecca shook her head after not finding what they were looking for. She went back to the terminal to try and see what was wrong.

 

“I think we should be looking for some detached plugs. The system isn’t integrated like it should be.” Rebecca spoke up after a moment, fingers still moving at lightning speed.

 

 _“Just my standard check-in. The only time he’s ever missed them is when he’s busy trying not to get killed.”_ Hannigan said, obviously irritated.

 

Chris nodded to Rebecca and chuckled at Hannigan. “Alright. Babysitter Redfield is on it.”

 

“We can’t figure out that machine over there.” Rebecca was busy looking up the data. “I can’t quite understand what these algorithms are for, because some data is missing; I’m assuming they’re in the other terminals, which won’t connect. They could be for a bio-weapon, or for something else.”

 

Chris nodded, still listening to Hannigan.

  
_“Babysi--did Leon say that?”_ There came the personal slip-up; Hannigan had begun to soften up to Leon after more than ten years working together.

 

Chris approached the small, circular-ly-shaped, flat machine and saw the disconnected plugs. Luckily for Rebecca, this part of the lab hadn’t been so damaged that it was rendered useless. Once it was plugged in and properly connected to the terminal she was currently hammering away at, they should be able to figure out exactly what this thing was used for.

 

“No, I volunteered.” Chris’s tone was light; it was the first time he’d spoken to Leon’s personal check-in. “Do you need me to spank him for not checking in? Rebecca, I think I see your problem.” He said, over his shoulder as he approached the capsule.

 

 _“May I remind you that these comms are being recorded.”_ Hannigan said sternly. _“Standard procedure.”_

 

Chris wanted to laugh--is this what Leon had to deal with every mission? He understood the notoriety the woman had obtained through her years of service with the government. Chris actually felt a little honored to finally be chatting with her, else his language would’ve been less casual and more business.

 

Rebecca yelled over, after seeing Chris approach the machine. “Mind helping plug the rest of it in, please?”

 

“Come on Hannigan. Leon seems like the type to crack a few jokes.” Chris said as he bent down to plug in the ports to the machine.

 

Hannigan uttered a long, telling, exasperated sigh.

 

Bingo; Leon was that type, Chris thought.

 

“I copy.” Chris said, finally giving in. “I’ll check in with agent Kennedy after my recovery detail here.”

 

He raised a brow, frowning and resembling the serious captain his men had come to know and respect, when he spotted a bit of space in the middle of the machine. Was this big machine really a server? It looked...odd. Then again, most computer experiments. Following the outline, he noticed a bit of space in the circle that was missing, and quickly assumed that it was for maintenance purposes when he saw a port sticking out of the middle of the circle.

 

 _“Duly noted, Captain Redfield.”_ Hannigan replied, though curt, it wasn’t rude.

 

Was this what getting to know someone felt like? Chris had to muse, as he easily placed one hand on the machine’s top and hopped into the inner circle. It looked almost like a platform.

 

“Urgh, it’s still not connecting properly. I’ve already engaged the connection, but nothing is happening.” Rebecca sighed. “But I think we’ll need the data on this computer.”

 

“What’s the data say?” Chris said, approaching the center of the circle. “Hold on, there’s one more port here.”

 

“Oh my god.” Rebecca’s tone was a cause for concern. “Nineteen-ninety-eight...and coordinates for the former Federal Bioterrorism Commission.”

 

Chris paused as he held the two plugs for the final port in his hands. “What? That means--”

 

“Yeah, they might have data from the Racoon City incident that we don’t know about. Looks like they might have been digging into old files even before the B.S.A.A., and it explains why they knew about the formation of the D.S.O. after the F.B.C. was merged with us.”

 

Chris plugged the last port. “Explains how they found you; if they really had information on us and even--”

 

Rebecca gasped when the terminals all suddenly powered up. There was a flash and all the monitors shut down for a moment. Gasps and yells of surprise came from all around. Someone fell over. By the time the power came back on, everyone in the room was rubbing their eyes.

 

“What happened?”

 

“I think we blew the circuit.”

 

“Maybe that’s why this thing was left disconnected.”

 

“Chris?” Rebecca asked, her eyes still teary as she looked to the terminal--no, it wasn’t a terminal, it had been a platform of some kind. “CHRIS?!”

 

Chris was gone.

 

\---

 

Leon sighed heavily. This was not how he’d imagined how his first day would end. Hell, how long had it been? It was morning by the time he, Sherry, and Claire made it out of that nightmare. How many days had it been?

 

“Can I see her?” Leon asked, the stone-faced man he’d yet to learn the name of.

 

He was still seated on the chair, elbows leaning on his knees and looking up. He was so tired. But he needed to know that they really did mean they would take care of Sherry.

 

Though his voice was as stern as his face, the man Leon soon recognized was the one who was asking all those questions agreed.

 

“She’ll be officially under the care of our National Security Advisor, Derek Clifford Simmons. There’ll be nothing to worry about.” The man said, turning to leave the room.

 

Leon followed.

 

After a short while, he was able to see Sherry, through a one-way mirror, in yet another room that was similar to the one he’d been held in. Granted, it was more well-lit and not full of imposing cameras. An older man came into the room and Leon could hear the conversation. Also in the room had been a woman who had been accompanying Sherry, from the look of things.

 

“This is Mister Simmons. He’s going to take care of you.” the woman said.

 

Sherry fidgeted nervously as she looked up at Simmons, who smiled warmly at her. “Wh-where’s Leon…? The policeman?”

 

Leon placed his hand on the glass, but he didn’t say anything. Oh, how he wanted to say something.

 

“She’ll be fine.” the man with Leon insisted. “She’ll be in the tightest security America has to offer.”

 

Leon didn’t reply, he kept watching. Leon found himself smiling a little when Sherry looked relived after Simmons gently explained that Leon just had a few questions to answer, and that he was tired and needed rest.

 

She’d be fine, Leon had to believe so.

 

“As for you, you’ll be starting your training shortly. We’ll get yor injuries properly looked at and determine when you will begin.” the man with Leon said. “You’ll be allowed free roam within DC, as long as you check in at oh-eight-hundred every morning. We’ll know where you are, so don’t try to run.”

 

“I won’t.” Leon replied.

 

\--

 

“--Leon after he...Rebecca?” Chris blinked.

 

The lights had gone out suddenly. No sound. Nothing. Chris froze; his fight or flight response kicking in and he stopped talking, stopped moving.

 

More silence followed. But he couldn’t see where he was. It was dark. After carefully placing his hands on the floor, he felt the texture of carpet, it’s roughness clear even through his gloves and from the sound of friction it made when he grazed his fingers back and forth on the material. It wasn’t the steel surface he’d been kneeling on just a few seconds ago.

 

Where _was_ he?

 

Feeling around, his eyes slowly started to adjust to the darkness and he was beginning to make out shapes. Chairs...leather chairs...a large table. A meeting room. No windows. A meeting room for classified briefings and debriefings then. They had similar at several headquarters of the B.S.A.A., but that just made the situation more confusing for Chris.

 

From how quiet it was, the meeting room was currently unused. Which meant nobody was expecting him to be there. Good. If nobody was expecting him to be there, then nobody would be expecting him to try and get out of wherever he was.

 

How and why he was there, he’d figure out after scoping the place out. At least this was an advantage for him; he was already inside wherever this was.

 

Carefully, Chris made his way out of the room; thankful that he was still armed. The hallway screamed ‘government facility’, which could either be a good or bad thing. Figures that there would be cameras just outside of the room...but they were in rather inconvenient and predictable places.

 

An older building? Sure looked like it.

 

Turning down the other way, away from the cameras pointed at a hallway that led to the room he was in. Again, no windows, and no way to tell whether he was going in or out of the building, just more doors with plaques on them. It was really starting to look like a place that could have been built more than twenty years ago. He was disturbed by how bad the surveillance in the building was, if it was still being used as a government facility.

 

Further down, Chris came across a room he intuitively recognized as uniform storage.

 

“Sir, are you certain?”

 

Hearing voices coming down the hall, Chris made his way into the room to find that he had been correct.

 

“Yes. He’ll become an excellent asset. The boy is honest. He’ll keep his word.”

 

Thinking quickly, Chris unloaded one of his handguns and put the safety on, before rummaging through the room, using the butt of his gun to break open locks on the lockers and cabinets.

 

“Might I suggest still putting a detail on him, just in case?”

 

He found a black hiking backpack, which he turned over and emptied out, before removing his side straps and vest and stuffing the vest inside to take with him.

 

“Of course.”

 

The voices passed by as Chris was looking himself over, he removed his leg straps, and belt, quickly removing ammo from the firearms no longer strapped to him. Then, he put everything in the backpack, before once again donning his four side-arms. At least he wouldn’t be completely unarmed.

 

After donning a brown, loose, (and out of date) leather jacket that comfortably concealed his four handguns. Now clad in just his black stealth undershirt that made it hard to see the straps under the jacket. There was almost nothing he could do about his armored boots, knee-pads (which were built into the fabric of his pants), or his thigh protectors. He would just need to get out of there quickly and find a place to recollect himself.

 

With this in mind, Chris exited the room, leaving the mess behind, and headed down the direction where the voices came from. After passing by a few corridors that were woefully equipped with security cameras (curiously, all of older, obsolete models), the building’s layout began to become familiar.

 

It was a standard, operations base, military grade...from the early nineties. In fact, this schematic was one he had studied as part of his course back when he was 17, and still part of the United States Airforce.

 

Wasn’t this...the now repurposed United States Strategic Command temporary headquarters, located in Washington D.C…what was he doing here? How did he get here? And why was the building equipped with outdated government-issue gear?

 

Despite the questions, the familiarity with the schematics from his memory made it easier for him to calmly make his way towards where he knew one of the fire escapes would be. If memory served, the fire escapes of an outdated building like this would lack proper security measures available in all of their current installations.

 

Perfect--the home stretch only had two cameras, pointed towards the door. However, there was a separate corridor to his right, which he would need to be wary of. But Chris didn’t slow down--acting like he was lost would make it obvious he didn’t belong here. No security had been triggered yet, and he would like to keep it that way.

 

_Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap._

 

The B.S.A.A. captain’s hand went to his one of his hidden holsters when he heard another set of footsteps coming his way. As his luck would have it, he was right about the hallway to his right.

 

An exasperated, tired sigh coming from the owner of the footsteps caught Chris’s attention. He knew that voice. Wait, was it--

 

“Omph-!” Leon grunted, colliding with a tall, hard body he hadn’t been expecting to meet at the end of the corridor.

 

Chris stopped, the blur of blond hair was all he saw before he heard the other man’s body hit the floor. It was a smaller, more limber body. But...that voice…

 

Leon?

 

“Excuse me. Sorry about that.” Leon said quickly, getting to his feet. He met the man’s gaze to show the sincerity in his apology.

 

 _Holy shit_ , Chris thought. His mind raced-- _who, what…?_ What the _fuck_?

 

“Leon?” Chris found himself asking; as he had so many coincidental encounters before--but this was the most shocked he’d been.

 

“Uh...yes, sir.” Leon replied, confused.

 

Leon’s voice was too young, Chris realized. His manners were too polite, Chris mused. His stature definitely smaller--and not to mention shorter--than he remembered.

 

The worry was too obvious on his face. This...was Leon. Or at least, the young rookie Leon used to be.

 

….what...

  


“Sorry...about that.” Not getting an answer, a confused Leon turned to continue on his way, gaze immediately turning down towards the ground in front of him, deep in thought.

 

Finally recovering from initial shock, Chris saw the torn uniform the kid was wearing, bandages with drying blood wrapped around his left shoulder. When his eyes finally took in the letters “R.P.D.”, Chris understood.

 

“Leon.” He spoke up, as if to confirm his theory. “Leon Scott Kennedy.”

 

“Yes, sir...I’m sorry about running into you.” Leon replied. “Did you...need something from me?”

 

Chris couldn’t help but think that Leon really...did sound like a cop. An upright, no-nonsense, golden-hearted cop, at that. Because...Leon had been a cop. Right then, right there, the kid he was looking at had just survived Racoon City--had just met Claire--had just rescued Sherry...

  


He recognized the haunted look in the young Leon’s face. If Chris hadn’t known Leon Scott Kennedy, he would have mistaken the young man for a resilient, pop-right-back kid. Which, granted, he most likely was; but Chris knew from the stories Claire told him that Leon was going through what Chris himself had gone through at a similar age. The mansion...the undead...the sheer feeling of shock and a level of tiredness that couldn’t be put into words...

 

“You’re worried.” Chris immediately wanted to bite his own tongue at his tone. It was too familiar. He hadn’t realized just how comfortable he’d gotten with talking so casually to Leon before now. “About Sherry...and about Claire…”

 

The timeline seemed right, Chris theorized.

 

Unsurprisingly, Leon just gave Chris a look of concern, but the suspicion that Chris was used to seeing on Leon’s face when it came to their rare debriefings together was absent. This Leon was so easy to read.

 

“Wha-...yes...I...who-...” Leon didn’t know what to ask first. “Who are you?”

 

The now-former-rookie-cop’s brain was firing several questions at once. Who was this man? How did he know about Sherry? WHAT did he know about Sherry? Could he help? Could the government really be capable of hurting Sherry? Was the US-STRATCOM really going to let him help people? Help fight these monsters and the people who made them?

 

Forget Chris’s impression that Leon had been ‘slightly hardened’ at their first meeting--he was too far a cry from the Leon in front of him now for the word ‘slightly’ to be used.

 

Chris decided to take a chance.

 

“It’s alright.” Chris found himself saying. “Sherry will be fine. She will, I promise.”

 

Of course, there was no way for the 21-year-old Leon Scott Kennedy would know that. Afterall, the Leon that Chris had grown familiar with had seen about sixteen years worth more experience than the one he was talking to. But there was nothing else he could say.

 

“Wh-...what?” Leon thought he was beginning to sound like a mentally-impaired parrot. It was like he’d forgotten how to properly converse; he needed sleep.

 

Hell, Leon needed a lot of things; food, water, a bath, new clothes--

 

Leon’s vision went blurry and he fell forward without realizing it.

 

“Woah there.” Chris stepped forward, dropping the backpack, his hands going to Leon’s shoulders to hold him up. “Leon…!”

 

Leon took a deep breath; he was just short of passing out. Shaking his head, he looked up to find steel-blue eyes of the older man staring back at him. “I’m sorry--I...I’m fi--”

 

“You need to rest.” Chris interrupted him, surprised at himself for the overprotective tone in his voice. It wasn’t intentional.

 

“Did you really mean that?” Leon asked, his tired mind making it harder to form coherent thought. “Is Sherry really going to be okay?”

 

...was this really the same Leon Scott Kennedy Chris had come to know?

 

“And Claire...do you know where she is now?” Leon asked, desperate.

 

Chris’ gaze hardened. He’d never seen Leon like this before. Even when the man had been drunk, he’d masked his miseries with insults and sarcastic remarks. No jokes came from the Leon in his arms; only pure, unadulterated distress. Only concern for the two girls he’d met and come to care for after their horrible experience in Racoon City.

 

...only the sincerity that of the kind that Leon Scott Kennedy was capable of, normally hidden under the unwavering, hardened gaze of an experienced agent. But now it was laid bare, in the furrow of his brow on the honest, concerned expression on Leon’s face, for Chris to see.

 

“They’ll be fine.” Chris repeated, putting an arm around Leon’s back and taking the younger man’s shaking hands in his free hand. “Claire and Sherry will be alright. Believe me.”

 

The now officially-former-but-still-rookie-cop was trembling. Ever so slightly, Chris could feel the minute quivering of Leon’s hands. The kid wasn’t okay.

 

Leon stared at the unfamiliar man who made him even more wary in the already unfamiliar building. From how he was being held in the much, much larger, older man’s arms, the distance between them was undeniably close. Leon suddenly became hyper-aware of just how strong the grip on his shoulders were, his searching eyes met cold, hardened steel in the older man’s gaze.

 

But there was something in those eyes; something hopeful, something Leon couldn’t identify…

 

...something Leon wanted to trust.


	2. Agent, Captain, Rookie and Shower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chris Redfield gets stuck between RE2Remake!Leon and Vendetta!Leon, in 1998. Also, bathroom action.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note: 
> 
> I’m moving countries this week! Thank you so much for giving me the week to rest last week as I really needed it! What? A Chreon post? Instead of Mr.X? Even though I posted WIPS? Well, yes.
> 
> ….because proper Leon mindbreak needs a lot of thought, planning, and tender-loving care! Which means, NO RUSHING. For me, anyway. I’m so sorry to everyone who was hoping for a LeonX (Mr.X/Leon) post! It’ll happen, I promise!
> 
>  
> 
> Some people have been asking about whether or not there are 2 Chris Redfields because Chris didn’t replace himself when he travelled back in time. Yes, there are 2 Chris Redfields. I just re-read some of my notes and went back to dig around wiki because details, and yes, Chris is in Europe at the time of the events that lead to the destruction of Raccoon City. So sadly no, Chris will not be meeting Chris. 
> 
> Welp, more time for some R&R with Baby Leon for Daddy Chris, right? As for when Leon and Chris first met, they never show it on screen, just mention in passing. But according to the wiki: “While on the island prison of Rockfort Island, Claire sent Leon an e-mail asking him to inform Chris of her location so that he could come and rescue her. Leon managed to track Chris down personally, and told him of Claire's situation, and Chris headed for Rockfort Island after her.[11]”
> 
> So I’m going to take the “personally” part literally. That’s all for now! Please enjoy the fic!
> 
> Cheers,  
> HentaiPrincess06

.

.

.

 

**\---**

**\--- 1998**

**\---**

 

_ “Hey Chris.” _

 

_ “Yeah?” _

 

_ “How--” _

 

“How do you know?” Leon found himself saying, voice breathless. “How do you know about Sherry? About Claire? How do you know they’re alright?”

 

Chris found the man’s hands shaking, the gentle vibrations making their way to his own hands as he held Leon’s wrists. He didn’t believe him, Chris could tell. Something about the overwhelmed, desperate but stubborn look in those puppy-blue eyes that Chris found both vaguely familiar, and yet so far removed from the cold fire he had become accustomed to seeing in Leon’s eyes.

 

Why hadn’t Chris noticed before? 

 

Suddenly, a whole host of questions bombarded Chris; thinking back to that morning before all of this. That tired look on Leon’s face. The dull look in his eyes. Had it really just been a hangover? Chris couldn’t remember if he’d ever seen such a pureness in Leon’s gaze. 

 

Was it there when they ran into each other in Liang Shang? No, he couldn’t recall...he hadn’t paid enough attention to notice. What about when they’d first met, the month after Racoon City? That time Leon had frantically tracked him down to tell him about Claire going missing? Chris could still see the look of relief mixed with urgency on the younger man’s face--yes, he was right about the same age as the Leon he was looking at right now, wasn’t he? 

 

No...he hadn’t...he hadn’t paid enough attention.

 

Why hadn’t he paid enough attention?!

 

“H-hey…” Leon’s voice was small, meek, even. Full of concern.

 

Leon was beginning to feel uncomfortable. There was a troubling sense of prying with the way this man was looking at him. Just who exactly had he run into? What did this man want from him?

 

Chris suddenly realized he’d been lost in thought, saying nothing, still holding Leon. He snapped back to the moment, catching himself staring into Leon’s eyes. 

 

“I just do.” Chris reassured.

 

Leon snorted. “Classified?”

 

Ah, so this was right around the time the kid was starting to learn how to use sarcasm, Chris thought. 

 

“Something like that.” Chris lied--judging from the timing, it wouldn’t be long before Leon begun is official training. A few months after, they would be meeting for the very first time, around November of 1998.

 

It would be a tough year for them both.

 

Leon felt insulted; a feeling that the former-rookie didn’t know was showing on his face. “Look, if you know where--uh…”

 

The fatigue finally hit Leon all at once, causing him to lose his train of thought and stopping him mid-sentence.

 

“Let’s get you patched up.” Chris said. “You been debriefed?”

 

“More like interrogated.” Leon said dryly, but there was a humor in his voice. “I was told to head to the medical bay, but I guess I got lost.”

 

Against his better judgement, thats where Chris took him. Chris stayed in the corner of the room, out of shot of the cameras and away from the windows that looked into the extended room. There were other soldiers and agents there, but only a handful. It wasn’t surprising, seeing as how this was just the beginning of all the bio-weapon bullshittery they were going to face. It was only going to get worse.

 

“Thanks.” Leon sighed, sitting up on the examination gurney he’d been treated on.

 

Chris was just thinking about how he should adjust some of the conduct of government staff--the kid had nearly passed out in the middle of the hallway. The B.S.A.A. had never, and would never have any of that, he decided. 

 

“No problem.” The captain replied, keeping his stolen backpack against the wall to avoid drawing attention to it. “What now?”

 

“I was told to get some bedrest. Check in every morning. Come back here for another checkup after two days. Then maybe start training.” Leon explained, meeting Chris’s gaze.

 

“Got a place to go to?” Chris asked--he didn’t either.

 

“No, I...I’m not allowed to leave D.C.” the younger man clarified.

 

Chris frowned. “Come with me.”

 

It wasn’t hard to find an small-town-like apartment that was out of the way, along Upshur street near the Armed Forces Retirement Home. It was close enough that it didn’t arouse suspicion, but it was a small-town-like area that didn’t feel like somewhere the government would have their prying eyes. Of course, Chris knew better.

 

For now, the captain decided to make 216 Upshur Street their temporary home base. Upon arriving, it was surprisingly easy to get a room after some convincing and old codes the B.S.A.A. captain still remembered from when he himself was a kid.

 

Leon had watched in confusion, a little bit overwhelmed at the acronyms and the number-codes that that older man had spouted to the clerk at the front desk. Would he need to learn these too? Just when he thought police radio codes had been vague and a-plenty…

 

In little time, they had their room. Twin beds. Something that made Leon slightly uncomfortable. He still didn’t know who this man was, but he assumed he’d been another government agent, who was tasked with making sure he didn’t leave town. But, sharing a room? 

 

“Sir?” Leon spoke up, removing his boots and leaving them neatly on the rack at the front door.

 

“What is it?” It was then Chris started to really notice how Leon had been addressing him.

 

“I never got your name, Sir.” Leon managed, a little nervously--how was he supposed to address anyone that worked for the government? 

 

The Leon he knew had just called him Chris right off the bat from when they first met, the captain mused. Not “Redfield”, not “Chris Redfield”, just “Chris”. Surprisingly, he never really minded it. He really should have been more suspicious about some stranger knowing his name, tracking him down while he was in deep cover, all the way in Europe with Barry, investigating Umbrella. It must have been that look Leon had given him, Chris thought. It was the honesty in those eyes.

 

But  _ this _ Leon wouldn’t know who he was.

 

**_//“Chris!”//_ **

 

Chris Redfield paused in the middle of putting his swiped backpack down on one of the chairs near the window. “...what?”

 

Out of habit, he had left his earpiece on. It was still working thanks to the solar charge for extended missions. And it was sounding off in his ear.

 

**_//“CHRIS!”//_ **

 

_ Leon _ ?

 

“Huh?” Leon stiffened, looking like he’d just about stepped on a landmine. Had he said something wrong? Was he not supposed to ask?

  
  
  
  


.

.

.

 

**\---**

**\--- 2014**

**\---**

 

“We found him! He’s...he’s…” one of the intelligence staff said, hesitating to read what the data told him. “He’s...in 1998…”

 

“What?” Leon’s voice was a lot harder than he had intended. “What do you mean?”

 

“He’s in Washington D.C., but in the year 1998…” the officer repeated.

 

Rebecca and Leon exchanged looks of concern, surprise and confusion, before rushing to the terminal the officer was using. 

 

“It’s a time machine?” Rebecca asked in disbelief. “That’s not--...that doesn’t make any sense…”

 

“None of what we’ve been looking at makes sense.” Leon growled with frustration. “Go on.”

 

The officer nodded. “This project was incomplete from the look of it--but my theory would be that they would have tried to send their own operatives back in order to collect vital pieces of information from important installations. It could explain why they were aware of the formation of the B.S.A.A., and why information about some of your missions was leaked, Agent Kennedy.”

 

“Can they change things?” Rebecca questioned.

 

Leon found himself swallowing at the thought. His thoughts drew back to several moments in his life where he thought he had imagined it. Chris Redfield...sent back in time. So then...could…

 

...of course. Of course things had to turn out this way.

 

“As far as I understand it, not likely--or rather they never got the chance to.” The officer replied. “According to the machine log, this was only powered on once. Our accidental activation was the first time this machine has ever been properly used.”

 

“How do we get him back?” Leon was growing impatient.

 

“Simple. Captain Redfield would simply need to return to the coordinates which he was sent to. From there, we can simply reverse the process...in theory.” the officer concluded.

 

“How do we tell him that?” Rebecca inquired.

 

Leon had to give it to her; she really was the most level-headed out of the three of them. He really should apologize. But now wasn’t the time.

 

“Well...let’s see…” The officer proceeded to execute several functions on the terminal that Rebecca barely understood, but Leon completely missed.

 

After a few moments, he’d found their answer.

 

“Yes, I see...clever. Well, it seems that there were special conditions for proper operations to be carried out successfully. Obviously, communication devices from the future would never be able to reconnect through the anomaly of--”

 

“In English.” Leon demanded.

 

“Err--right.” The officer sighed, taking a moment to reconsider his explanation. “You would need to make contact with the same person, over the two periods of time in order for the future to send messages to the past. For example, if either of you had met agent Redfield at the exact time he was sent to, you’d have a connection.”

 

Leon frowned. If someone had...

 

“Wait so…” Rebecca decided to further simplify for Leon, after seeing the look on is face. “Would someone like Claire be able to talk to Chris?”

 

Oh jesus, Leon thought. Could it possibly...yes, it made sense--sort of. Then that meant...oh god...

 

“Well...yes. Because they shared a childhood together, and therefore have had contact consistently through past time and present time.” the officer nodded. “But she would need to be here, and she would need to stand on that platform.”

 

Leon broke into a sprint.

 

_ Tap, tap, tap! _

 

“Leon?!” Rebecca gasped.

 

“Chris!” Leon yelled, jumping onto the platform, not wasting time on the details. “Chris, are you there?!”

 

Still active, the platform’s lights changed color, from a white to a blue. Leon hesitated, looking down at where he was standing. Would he be alright?

 

The officer was already busy typing away at the terminal. “No, you’re good to go.”

 

“Chris!” Leon tried again.

 

**_//“...what?”//_ **

 

There he was. That was Chris’s voice.

 

“CHRIS!” Leon yelled again, a little louder.

 

**_//“Huh?”//_ **

 

Again, that was Chris’s voice. They’d gotten through!

  
  
  
  


.

.

.

 

**\---**

**\--- 1998**

**\---**

  
  


**_//“CHRIS, DO YOU COPY?!” //_ **

 

“Leon?” Chris replied.

 

Where was that voice coming from?

 

“Yes sir?” Leon replied, growing more and more confused.

 

Chris glanced at the younger man in the room. It hadn’t been him. Then...this was, this was the current Leon--no wait, the Leon he knew. The Leon from his time.

 

**_//Chris? What do you know, this thing works.//_ **

 

It was coming right through his earpiece. Chris wasn’t sure how or why, but with the stretched logic of the entire situation, it sort of made sense.

 

“I…” Chris trailed off, looking at the young man, still dressed in bloody, dirty clothes, looking back at him with confusion and expectation. He didn’t know who to respond to first--he decided to go with the comms. “Say again?”

 

The Leon from his time had found a way to contact him. Figures that Leon would, Chris thought. But the situation was a little difficult, to say the least.

 

**_//I’ve patched through! Chris, listen to me. We know where you are.//_ **

 

Still trying to process what was happening, Chris failed to answer for a few moments.

 

**_//…say something!//_ **

 

Thinking quickly, Chris raised his hand, pointing to his earpiece before replying to the Leon contacting him. “Ten four.”

 

Leon was frowning at this point, though he did leave the man to his conversation. Getting stern but no-questions asked answers during the interrogation back at the facility was an unpleasant experience already. But not getting straight answers and only brief replies from the man with him now, and then getting cut off, was frustrating on top of everything.

 

Not to mention, the sheer stature of the man in front of Leon made him feel slightly uncomfortable. He thought back to the massive man-like-monster that had been stalking him at the station; how it had easily sent him flying back and picked him up…

 

...maybe if he was built more like the man in front of him now, he could have handled the situation a little better. Simply put, Leon felt intimidated.

 

**_//You son of a bitch, you scared the shit out of Rebecca…!//_ **

 

“Hey, no need to be rude.” Chris sighed into the comms. Leave it to a hungover-Leon to completely mess up procedure. “I’ve got company.”

 

Chris decided that dealing with weapons, underground societies, hostile islands, explosions and bio-weapons were all fine and dandy...but  _ time-travel _ ? How was he supposed to comprehend  _ this _ ? 

 

**_//What?//_ **

 

Chris supposed that he’d probably just have to manage. 

 

**_//You still in one piece, I take it? Can you remember where you were when you were sent over?//_ **

 

If Chris Redfield wasn’t currently in a confusing situation as it was, he would be further reprimanding Leon for such a reaction. Both versions of the same man was each having different dillemmas at the same time.

 

“Affirmative.” Chris replied, wishing Leon would calm down.

 

**_// Listen, you need to--//_ **

 

Despite the convenience of the ‘call’ cutting out, Chris was kind of disappointed that his once-in-a-lifetime chance of talking to two different versions of the same man had been cut short.

 

Shaking it off, Chris fully turned his attention to the young Leon in front of him. Back to the question at hand--would Leon even remember him if he told him his name? Should he give him an alias? Or…

 

Then, Chris had a thought. 

 

“... just...call me Captain.” Chris replied, completing the thought aloud.

 

“Okay...Captain.” Leon replied, a little sheepishly.

 

Oh.

 

Oh  _ no _ .

 

Leon Scott Kennedy, always so full of determination, full of pluck, always looking right at him when he spoke. Even when he was drunk and drifting away into his sorrows, there was still that same, plucky sureness. Perhaps it was confidence in the fact that his life was going nowhere with the fight against B.O.W.s...but man had the agent put up a seething argument. Leon was calling him ‘Captain’, and without an ounce of sarcasm.

 

Chris realized he liked how that sounded, coming someone like Leon. 

  
  
  


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.

.

 

**\---**

**\--- 2014**

**\---**

 

“What happened?!” Leon demanded--hungover or not, he wasn’t happy.

 

He moved to get off the platform, when the lights came back on.

 

“Shit.” The officer who had been instructing them earlier was now busy hooking his laptop up to the terminal. “The power grid for this building is unstable.”

 

“Is there damage to this system?” Rebecca asked.

 

“Thankfully, not.” the officer replied. “We’ll need to provide a steady power supply though, otherwise blackouts like this are going to happen again. It’s a hungry system.”

 

“Surprise, surprise.” Leon scoffed, irritated.

 

“But you got through to him, right?” Rebecca approached him, sounding hopeful.

 

Leon nodded, looking at her. “I did. We were able to hear and talk to each other just fine.”

 

Honestly, Leon thought, it was the most they’d ever spoken so directly to each other. Despite getting drunk in front of the man twice, they hadn’t really conversed about much in way of substance.

 

“Great. We’ll need to let him know that he needs to get back to those coordinates.” Rebecca sighed in relief.

 

“We should do that as soon as the system comes back online. I don’t really get it but, I’m worried that while we’re messing around here, who knows how many hours, days, weeks, months or...well, even years are going by there? Who knows when we’ll get to talk to him next--...”

 

Then, he paused. 

 

“What is it?” Rebecca asked. “Leon? Did Chris say something? Did something happen to--”

 

“I’m sorry.” Leon spoke suddenly.

 

Rebecca stared at him, surprised. 

 

“For what happened at the bar.” Leon explained, holding her gaze steady.

 

He should have apologized to Chris too, when he had the chance. Instead he bickered with the B.S.A.A. captain until he bought him a drink, proceeded to get drunk at his apartment, and was even made coffee in the morning.

 

Rebecca looked at Leon with searching eyes. Then she smiled. Stepping up to the platform, to meet Leon’s eyes better.

 

“We’ll bring him back.” She said.

 

This time, it was Leon’s turn to be surprised. Meeting her gaze in return, Leon looked at her for a moment, before smiling. She was trying to comfort him. Was it that obvious just how worried he was for Chris? Not that he was that worried, of course.

 

“I know we will.” Leon replied, placing a hand on Rebecca’s shoulder in thanks. “He’s probably going to get bored by the time we get the machine back on, though.”

  
  
  
  


.

.

.

 

**\---**

**\--- 1998**

**\---**

 

Looking at the younger Leon that Chris was now remembering first meeting, Chris found himself feeling...odd. This was the Leon before he was turned into a capable master of firearms and weapons. The Leon that just barely made it out of Raccoon City with no field experience, and just sheer determination and a heart of gold.

 

...and he was calling him  _ ‘Captain’ _ .

 

To make matters worse, Leon was calling him ‘Captain’ because he was told to--and he did as he was told.

 

“Did something happen?” Leon asked, “Is it urgent?”

 

Chris shook his head and waving Leon off. “It’s nothing. You should be resting.”

 

“Uh…” Leon refused to move. “I would, but there isn’t anything in this apartment.”

 

Right, Leon wasn’t allowed to go back to where he was living. He wasn’t allowed to leave Washington.

 

“I’ll take care of that.” Chris decided. “Just get in the shower first.”

 

Leon frowned a little bit. Was he seriously going to be watched like this? It was like being babysat. Needless to say, after what he’d gone through, it was the last thing he expected, and the last thing he wanted. 

 

“I’ll go with you.” Leon insisted, then remembered just who he might have been talking to--he quickly fixed his sentence. “I’ll need clothes that fit too.”

 

Saying that Chris Redfield was currently very amused and trying to hide it would be an understatement. The different emotions that played off Leon’s face as he struggled to grab a hold of the situation he found himself in was just...so...pure. That was that only way Chris could describe it.

 

It was that something about Leon that was and always would be there--it was just difficult to see sometimes.

 

“Fine. But stick with me.” Chris conceded, removing his jacket and revealing the four handguns strapped to his sides. “And wear this.”

 

Leon took the jacket, blinking at it and then realizing he was still in a bloody, torn police uniform, began to quickly get his pads and straps off. He hadn’t noticed because the clerk at the counter hadn’t said anything--then again, if this was a usual place for the government to use, she wouldn’t have even she did notice.

 

“Thanks.” Leon looked at the jacket, frowning at its size.

 

“Here.” Chris said. “Hopefully you won’t need them.”

 

Leon took the firearms and straps and went over to the corner of the room to put the straps and jacket on. 

 

Chris watched as Leon removed the clips out of both guns, before putting the safety on, removing the one in the chamber, then placing them on the side table to put the straps on. Safety first--of course. It was haunting, watching the younger man move and talk. He understood this was Leon Scott Kennedy--but it felt both the same and yet so different. Chris couldn’t explain it.

 

After first slipping on the straps, Leon frowned and took them off again. They were too big. Way too big. About three time too big. His ears flushed a light pink when he realized just how far he had to tug the straps through their buckles to make it fit comfortably. Finally, he re-loaded the guns, and slipped them into the holsters at his sides.

 

“You sure it’s alright to let me use these?” Leon asked--it didn’t seem like he was being officially issued these firearms.

 

“Sure.” Chris said off-handedly, meanwhile deciding to unstrap his remaining side-arms. “Never know when you’re going to need them.”

 

Leon turned to watch as Chris unzipped the black backpack, and began carefully placing his harnesses and the remaining hand-guns in them, before checking over himself. The weight on his sides wasn’t heavy, but just enough to remind him he was armed and exactly where to each for without fumbling.

 

“Fair enough.” Leon admitted--was the nightmare not over? He supposed not. No, it wasn’t. He needed to put himself together and do what he could to stop Umbrella. 

 

Leon thought that it wasn’t surprising that a government agent would be armed, but the armor inside the bag and on the man’s boots made him look more military than covert. Leon had to wonder.

 

The guns were something else too--lighter, easier to load and cock than the R.P.D.’s currently issued model had been. Obviously other things were different, but he didn’t have time to look too long. Cops were paid off state taxes, so discharged firearms meant paperwork, every bullet had to be accounted for...guess the government had more funding.

 

“They’re Wing Shooters.” Chris replied--then he realized; didn’t Leon have a pair of those when they met in Liang Shang?

 

The B.S.A.A. captain went to unstrap his remaining side-arms and put two into the black backpack with the rest of his weapons and ammo to take with him. 

“Let’s get you fed first thing.” Chris thought aloud, a little relieved to have something a little less awkward to talk about. “Anything you have in mind?”

 

Leon paused; it was only now that he began to notice the stark difference between how he was being treated by the people at the building, compared to the ‘captain’. 

 

“A-anything’s fine. Honestly, I’m not even really that hungry anymore…”

 

Chris conversed while he thought on his feet. Judging from the situation and the timeframe, Washington hadn’t been hit with anything major...and it wasn’t exactly like the B.S.A.A. was even around for Chris to worry about yet. So...maybe he would need to just wait for Leon--their Leon, to contact him again. 

 

“That’s not good.” Chris frowned. “We should start you off on something light, or your stomach’ll hate you for it.”

 

If they’d figured out how to communicate once, they could find a way again. Meanwhile, perhaps the machinery was giving them a bit of a difficult time--on his end, there was really nothing Chris could do, he surmised.

 

“Ready to go?” Chris asked.

 

“These are nice.” Leon commented, but frowned when he put the jacket on.

 

The jacket had been loose on Chris, but on Leon, it was even bigger--going right down to his thigh. But it covered the torn uniform and the hidden side-arms enough. Leon wondered if he had a right to complain.

 

Chris smirked, completely amused. “The jacket not so much.”

 

Okay, Leon thought. Maybe government agents did have a sense of humor--or well, were allowed to have a sense of humor? One of those. 

 

“So, is this normal for someone like you?” Leon inquired, not really knowing how to ask. “Making sure I don’t leave?”

 

It was awkward for Chris as well, not knowing just how to interact with this, younger, nostalgically-familiar, yet also new version of Agent Kennedy. 

 

“I’m normally out of the country. Or when I’m here, it’s always when the situation’s gone bad. So it’s a nice change of pace.” he replied.

 

“Is it?” Leon asked.

 

Being careful not to give too much away would be something Chris had to keep in mind. Still, it wasn’t like he was lying if he was being vague. With how Leon and he had first met, and everything up until Arias, the Leon he knew hadn’t remembered anything about this particular interaction. 

 

“Never been overseas outside of school trips.” Leon finished.

 

“Not too long ago, then.” Chris poked, eyes busy with the streets and people around them.

 

Chris knew just who in the government had turned out to be working for Umbrella. In all honesty, he was contemplating trying to take things into his own hands, and try to at least get to Simmons...he’d be doing Leon a favor in the end. And stopping a lot of trouble for them all from at least one of the roots of their future or well, for him, past, woes.

 

“Hey, old man-!” Leon snapped back--then realized what he was saying. “Uh…”

 

“Heh. ” Chris actually huffed a little chuckle at that.

 

Maybe he really did look old, Chris thought a little irked at himself for coming to such a depressing conclusion. Though, the matter of his age had him realize--even if he put a bullet in Simmons, where would that leave Sherry? 

 

Would they meet in the field just like they had, with Jake Muller in tow?

 

No. It was too much of a risk. He didn’t know what meddling would cause in the form of repercussion for not only himself, but for all of them. Back to square one--sit back, and wait for Leon to come get him...as hard as that was.

 

Leon for one was still fumbling with his own thoughts. It felt...normal--close to what normal was, anyway. As if he’d been letting out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding, Leon drew a deep sigh and looked around at the city around them, really, really looked around. The people, the moving vehicles, the sounds of normal life all around him. 

 

It all felt so real.

 

...standing there with the ‘captain’, actually  _ enjoying _ both company and the scenery made him realize it was all real. The nightmare would be there, not just for him while he was asleep and awake, but for everyone. All the people he was looking at now could go through what the people of Racoon City had gone through.

 

Leon made a slightly mixed expression and Chris found himself shocked to see.

 

“We better get this done quick so you can put that head of yours on a pillow.” Chris continued, jerking his chin up slightly. “Bus is here.”

 

Leon snapped out of his thoughts in time to follow the older man onto the bus.

 

After asking how much the fare was for one person to Riggs Road, Chris went ahead and dropped change for both of them into the box, gesturing with a side-nod to Leon to go ahead further into the bus.

 

The first thing Leon learned about the ‘captain’ was that the man seemed to always be alert. More so than any cop on duty, that was for sure. Leon caught the man taking quick glances left and right as they walked, sparing little word. Leon wanted to speak up, if only to disrupt the oddly deafening silence between them. It was all he could focus on as they made their way on foot to the nearest bus stop, despite the traffic, the chatter, and other sounds of the city all around them.

 

“So...what exactly are you the Captain of?” Leon asked, brows furrowing slightly in contemplation.

 

Chris wanted to chuckle, but he resisted. “You’ll find out, eventually.” It wasn’t a lie.

 

The first thing Chris had already learned--or rather confirmed--about Leon, was that he was very straight-forward (drunk or not). Whether he was trying to be well-mannered, or if he was irritated, confused, any emotion he was feeling was right up there on his face for everyone to see. 

 

Chris had noticed that Leon could be rather rude, but the man was never tactless. Even when he was insulting someone, he always made sure to stick it to them. Chris wasn’t sure whether he liked that or not yet.

 

“I…” Leon started, but stopped himself.

 

He wasn’t feeling well. Perhaps it was the lack of sleep, and the myriad of other things alongside an empty stomach. But he was the one who insisted on coming along to get supplies--as odd as it was to go out shopping like any normal person would.

 

Chris decided that the way Leon wanted to say something back but didn’t--because as far as he knew, he wasn’t in a position to do so--was admittedly, a little entertaining. But it would be best to maybe not have the younger man fainting on him in the middle of their supply run. For his own sake (having to carry Leon back to the apartment would be troublesome), and for Leon’s...if the older him would remember any of this.

 

“Sit down.” Chris instructed, as gently as he could.

 

Leon was embarrassed--he’d been caught trying to act tough. Honestly, it was more so that he didn’t want to be an inconvenience, despite already tagging along when he wasn’t supposed to.

 

He sighed, nothing for it now. 

 

“Sorry.” Leon apologized.

 

Chris turned to watch Leon, whilst being able to keep his eyes on the moving scenery from the wide bus windows. With the seat facing inward, Leon’s view of the opposite side of the bus was effectively blocked by the larger man. 

 

But he didn’t mind. 

 

The morning-turning-into-midday light coming through the windows was bright. As the bus filled with more passengers whilst going wnt along it’s stops, the two of them eventually got as close as they could possibly get without being uncomfortable. Though earlier the silence between them had been something in dire need of chasing away, now, it was welcoming.

 

Leon started to drift off. 

 

Maybe it was because he was in a bus full of people. Maybe it was because he was in the city, with the sights and sounds. Maybe it was because he had company that was assigned to keep an eye on him. 

 

Leon wasn’t sure; but he was starting to finally let go and relax. Perhaps he’d been fainting so much because his body had forgotten how to stop making adrenaline. He wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case. 

 

Chris watched as the man who was at this point, more of a boy than a man, went from staring straight ahead, then to his hands, then very slowly, his eyes began to slip shut. He was finally tuckered out, Chris thought. Reaching down, he placed a hand on Leon’s uninjured shoulder, gently adjusting him so that Leon’s head rested against the seat.

 

The captain wondered how Leon had managed on his own before this time-mess happened. After about a thirty minute ride, Chris tapped Leon on the shoulder to wake him up. They’d reached their stop.

  
  
  


.

.

.

 

**\---**

**\--- 2014**

**\---**

 

The D.S.O. agent watched as more people arrived while he continued to make a few calls. By evening, they had the permissions and the staff they needed to once again make the machine work. It was fortunate that most of the cleanup crew consisted of people from both the B.S.A.A. and different US government departments.

 

“How is it?” Leon questioned, eager to get on with it.

 

It had been easier said than done, but after a couple hours between relaying messages from Hannigan, and people that Rebecca knew, finally, all the terminals were functioning again.

 

“We can turn the machine on for you to make contact, but transporting Captain Redfield back here means that we’ll need to calibrate the machine first. I and the rest of the team can read the data, but actually altering the codes in order to get the process to work in reverse will take time.” The officer explained.

 

Leon insistently questioned further. “But you  _ can _ do it?

 

“Yes.  _ Yes _ , we can.” The officer confirmed with a determined smile.

 

The B.S.A.A. really did have some capable people, Leon gratefully thought.

 

“How long you need?” Leon asked. “I need to let him know what’s happening on this end.”

 

“Already on it, Agent Kennedy. You’ll be clear to try to contact Captain Redfield again in a few minutes. Just wait a moment, I have something that’ll make it even easier.” the officer informed him.

 

“Thanks.” Leon nodded, before going to take a seat where Rebecca was seated, finally feeling his legs begin to give.

 

After spending an entire day at the facility, both of them had finally sat down for the first time in hours. Not that they hadn’t both been on long runs before, but right after the entire thing with Arias was a bit much, especially for Leon.

 

“Phew.” The agent sighed, taking a spot next to Rebecca, deciding to rest his behind on some of the heavy-looking steel containers they were currently waiting to ship out.

 

Rebecca offered him a coffee and an unopened package of sandwiches, which he took. “Getting tired?”

 

Leon snorted at her, smiling. “Not as young as I used to be.”

 

Not that he actually chose to sleep when he was hungover. Not that he slept well either. 

 

“Chris told me you have nightmares.” Rebecca chimed, taking another bite of a doughnut she was eating.

 

Leon frowned. “Did he, now?”

 

“I have nightmares too.” Rebecca clarified.

 

At that, Leon chuckled a little, the smile returning to his face. “Yeah? I think that might be a ‘veterans’ honor’.”

 

“Nothing honorable about dreaming of zombie-hands grabbing at you.” Rebecca spat, chewing her doughnut a little more intently than she had been before.

 

“Got that right.” Leon mused aloud. “But you’d be surprised--” he took a sip of the canned coffee,”ahh--how some of the other agents look at people like you and me.”

 

Rebecca groaned.

 

Leon couldn’t help but find himself amused at how well they sympathized with each other. With there only been about three years of difference between himself and Rebecca, it wasn’t too surprising. She must have been around 18 when she first ran into Umbrella’s experiments...even younger than he had been as a rookie cop. It must have been tough.

 

And how could either of them forget? 

 

Even in his sleep, Leon could see it all. He could see officer Elliot in the East Hall, running away from a shambling corpse that used to be a fellow police officer. He could feel the man’s hands on his as they gripped each other’s wrists and pulled--Elliot pulling to get away from the clawing, dead hands at his waist and legs, Leon pulling to try and save the man who should have become one of his co-workers.

 

It was not how he had imagined his first day.

 

Leon felt other things too--the impact against his face when the hulking bio-weapon he later learned was officially called a T-series Tyrant that was codenamed Mr.X was something he felt in every dream. His left jaw still hurt sometimes when he thought about it, despite it being about fifteen...no, sixteen years? 

 

Feeling fingernails and bites were the worst of it. At least tyrants just killed you outright. Zombies however...they shared you with their undead friends--holding you down and clawing and biting at you until you were in pieces, or if they had lost interest. Their hands were always so cold, so damn dead and yet so alive with intent to rip him apart.

 

But there was one set of hands in particular that Leon couldn’t get rid of. He suspected he knew who they belonged to, but it couldn’t have been--no, he barely interacted with the other man. But...could it...

 

The feeling rose up to the forefront of his senses.

 

Large hands--Larger than his, belonging to someone larger than he was. With his thoughts drifting towards that feeling, the left side of his neck--like fingers ghosting over the flesh. They lingered for a moment at the base of his neck where it met his shoulder, before creeping upward towards his ear.

 

“--anytime.”

 

Leon’s whole body jerked in reaction when the feeling of fingers caressed from his ear back down the side of his neck, causing the coffee can he had opened and was holding to spill. “Shit!  _ Shit _ , sorry.”

 

It went everywhere.

 

Rebecca immediately got up, padding herself down. “No, it’s okay. What were you saying?”

 

“Oh dear. Are you tired, Agent Kennedy?” The officer, who had been helping them this entire time made a worried face.

 

Leon padded himself down and went to take a napkin from the pile they had to pad Rebecca down. “Hm…”

 

“Thanks.” Rebecca smiled, taking some napkins Leon handed her and also cleaning off one of her knee-pads. “Are you okay, Leon?”

 

“Peachy.” Leon said sarcastically, shaking his head and padding the napkin he was holding on Rebecca’s cheek to get the last of the coffee she’d missed.

 

“Okay…” Rebecca made a face--obviously not convinced.

 

The officer continued. “As I was saying...I’ve modified this so that the cross-time communication signal can be sent from the terminal, directly to this--”

 

“ _ English _ .” Leon groaned.

 

“...you can call Captain Redfield using this modified burner phone.” the tech-officer finished, now looking at Leon with an amused expression as he handed the phone over.

 

Leon took it, staring at it. It was blinking in an odd way, and it looked more like a walkie-talkie from when he was younger more than it did a phone. “Thanks.”

 

“No problem. Just press that button and it should patch you through.”

 

Leon did just that.

  
  
  
  


.

.

.

 

**\---**

**\--- 1998**

**\---**

 

**_//Chris?//_ **

 

Redfield lowered the packages onto the table. “Time for that shower, Agent Kennedy-- _ Leon _ ?” He spoke up, responding to his earpiece crackling to life.

 

Leon paused, looking up. “Yes, Captain?”

 

Chris had to focus on the call to keep his brain from fizzling out. Maybe he should have had Leon call him something else. It was too weird.

 

**_//Huh, you don’t sound surprised.//_ **

 

“I didn’t know you cared.” Chris shot back, deciding that he might as well behave off-duty and stop with the proper voice procedure. “I’ve got some...company.”

 

Leon quickly read the situation, removing the oversized jacket and turning to make his way to the small bathroom that was just a few steps away. Inside, he let out a sigh and leaned against the door. 

 

Just who was this guy talking to? He was awfully casual for someone who was a government agent assigned to keep an eye on him, Leon wondered as he stripped. Peeling the uniform off, he hissed when the bandages came off, parts having stuck to his skin around the bullet wound.

 

“Hah…” Leon sighed, feeling the area around the wound tingle.

 

Just who was the captain talking to? And why did he have to be so secretive? Then, Leon remembered Ada.

 

...was he...being lied to again? 

 

After the painful thought, Leon went to turn the shower on, before returning to the door to press his ear to it.

 

“Figured out what’s happened?” Leon heard the captain say through the door.

 

Chris heard the agent snort from the other end of the line--of course Leon Scott Kennedy  _ did _ .

 

**_//Of course, it just took the casualties of a few of my brain cells.//_ **

 

“You sound like you should’ve stayed in bed.” Chris reprimanded. “So, when do I get to go home?”

 

**_//Working on it. According to tech, a couple days. On your end though...How long since our last comm?//_ **

 

“About five hours.” Chris replied, glancing at the door to the bathroom, listening in for the shower.

 

**_//Been about ten here.//_ **

 

“So roughly twice the speed it’s there.” Chris concluded roughly.

 

What was he talking about? Twice of what? Leon frowned, though he could hear the conversation, since the door was so thin, he couldn’t understand it. Was he hearing things properly?

 

**_//Chris!//_ **

 

“Rebecca?” Chris perked up, enough that his chin lifted a bit out of relief and excitement.

 

A woman? The captain sounded really happy to be talking to her. Was this a job call or a personal call? Were government agents allowed to take personal calls? Maybe not...so...what was this? Leon reached for the doorknob, but decided that it was too risky. He’d already turned the shower on.

 

**_//Oh thank god. I couldn’t hear you last time and the power cut out...//_ **

 

“I’m fine. Met an old friend.” Chris said, turning away from the shower door to go and begin putting things away in the kitchen.

 

Leon hard a sound he couldn’t identify, then recognized the sound of cans being moved. The captain was putting the beer and other food in the fridge near the door. The former-rookie’s stomach tightened in excitement--he could hear better now that the man was closer to the door that separated them.

 

**_//Huh? Oh! You mean Leon?//_ **

 

“How’d you know that?” Chris asked.

 

**_//It’s the only reason we got through to you.//_ **

 

Then she was interrupted.

 

**_//Redfield.//_ **

 

“Kennedy?” Chris caught on to the serious tone. 

 

Leon’s eyes went a little wide when he heard his own name. Were they talking about him now?  _ Why _ ? 

 

**_//You get your ass back here, alright? I’ve got a bone to pick with you for doing this to me on my vacation, twice.//_ **

 

Chris let out a chuckle. “Copy that.”

 

The captain finally learned something new about Leon Scott Kennedy that day; the man was a very angry type of worry-wart. But there was little doubt in his mind that the man Claire had told him stories of when she had the time did care. Thinking on it now...the kid in the bathroom was the same man he was talking to.

 

A heart of gold under all that seriousness, Chris realized.

 

Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, Leon grew even more confused. What could the captain be laughing about, especially if it was about him? A little bit of annoyance began to well up in Leon, not only because it was difficult to hear the conversation, but it was all stacked up on how tired he was.

 

**_//I mean it, Redfield.//_ **

 

“I got it.” Chris shook his head. “Say, I was wondering…”

 

**_//Listen, you--...what?//_ **

 

“You have a penchant for semi-automatic Wing Shooters? Nine millimeters?” Chris questioned, glancing at the bathroom door. “Aside from Matilda?”

 

**_//How’d you know that?//_ **

 

The water was still running, but it didn’t have any disruptions in the noise. Chris’s gut dropped in suspicion. This trick had been used by himself before once or twice. One learns that if a person was really in the shower, there wouldn’t be the sound of a steady stream of water. There would be gaps and splashes from someone actively bathing.

 

“Just wondering.” Chris continued, deciding to check on the younger Leon. “Got a pair myself. Weak output.”

 

Leon wasn’t getting anything out of this conversation. The man went from talking to people he knew, to talking about guns. Were those the strange model of handgun he was handed two of? Why would they be talking about  _ that _ ?

 

**_//Huh, who knew the captain of the B.S.A.A. can’t dual-wield.//_ **

 

Chris frowned. He was going to get Leon back for that remark. But for now, he needed to check on the kid. God, he was going to get a migraine from thinking about how these two were the same man.

 

_ Tap.  _

 

Shit. Would Leon ever get to know more about Claire or Sherry from this guy? As much as he trusted that the captain wasn’t dangerous, but he was definitely holding out on him.

 

_ Tap _ .

 

Wait, was he coming this way?! Shit!

 

**_//Chris, you remember how you got there?//_ **

 

“I do.” Chris responded, now standing in front of the door.

 

He knocked. 

 

**_//You’ll need to be at the location when we--//_ **

 

Leon jumped back from the door, hearing the sudden knock. Oh no. He hadn’t thought that maybe the man was going to check on him.

 

**_//--what are you doing?//_ **

 

“Standby, Leon. Checking on something. Hey, everything alright in there?!” Chris called through the door.

 

Leon reached for the handle, but then realized that it would be obvious if he suddenly locked it now. Shit, why hadn’t he locked it before?!

 

**_//...what’s going on?//_ **

 

“It’s nothing.” Chris answered, knocking again.

 

Not knowing what else to do, and hearing the man’s voice right outside the door, Leon had stripped as quickly as he could. He yanked his pants and jockstrap down, kicking them and his socks off simultaneously. Leon was completely undressed.

 

**_//Chris?//_ **

 

Chris covered the receiver of his comms device. “Hey, Kennedy!”

 

**_//Redfield, tell me what’s going on.//_ **

 

It was weird, talking to two of the same man at the same--different times? Man, he needed to go home, Chris thought. 

 

“Hold on. Just need to check on someone.” Chris replied quickly, before covering the receiver again. “Kennedy, respond!”

 

**_//What? ...who?//_ **

 

Leon quickly hopped into the shower booth--so quickly in fact, he’d forgotten he’d only turned it on cold. At full blast.

 

“GAAAH-!” Leon yelped in surprise, not anticipating the temperature.

 

“LEON?!”

 

**_//Chris?!//_ **

 

Chris kicked the door down in response to the sudden cry of distress. 

 

**_//What’s going on?! Redfield!//_ **

 

“WHA-?!” Leon turned, still shocked, which was only added to by the door bursting open. Not expecting the tiles to be so slick, coupled with his already tired body, he slipped. “WOAH!”

 

_ THUD _ !

 

**_//Chris! Chris, come in!//_ **

 

Leon grimaced, expecting a hard impact. He’d been unable to catch himself in time. But instead, he felt a muted thud, against the top of his head, and his upper back smacked loudly, but harmlessly against the floor of the stall. A mass separated his waist from the floor, cushioning the blow.

 

“God damnit, Kennedy…” Chris sighed heavily from on top of Leon.

 

Who would’ve thought that the capable man he knew, had been such a clumsy kid, Chris thought. Of course, the Leon on his comms thought he’d been talking to him, and not the damn kid who nearly cracked his head open while trying to do something as simple as take a shower.

 

**_//What the hell, Redfield?!//_ **

 

Leon swallowed and froze. The captain had his arms around him, a hand on top of his head had shielded it from hitting the wall. The rest of the man’s arms had protected him from a hard impact against the floor.

 

**_//What happened?! Chris?!//_ **

 

Leon could hear the yelling from comms coming through the earpiece from their awkward position, bunched together on the floor of a tiny bathroom in an even tinier shower stall. He flinched, turning his ear away from where it was almost pressed right against the captain’s cheek.

 

**_//Chris!//_ **

 

“I’m fine.” Chris replied. “Just a little accident.”

 

He was just as soaked as Leon now, having jumped onto the kid to keep him from impacting too hard from the fall.

 

“I-I…” Leon stuttered. He didn’t know what to say! But he couldn’t just lie there, naked, underneath another man!

 

Leon’s face was flushed pink when Chris lifted himself up, hand still behind Leon’s head as he drew his knee to lift himself off of the smaller man. It was then that he noticed the blood. Bright red and flowing like a small river, broken by drops from the shower.

 

“Gh-!” Leon flinched, feeling a knee touch his balls. “HEY!”

 

**_//Who was that?//_ **

 

_ Shit _ . Chris had gotten distracted by the blood and hadn’t noticed that he’d just almost kneed Leon right in the crotch. “Sorry.”

 

In his hurry to scoot his knee away to get up and off the smaller body beneath him, Chris reached down to place a hand on the floor. His fingers grazed something...else, on the way down though.

 

“GET OFF!” Leon screamed. “GET  _ OFF _ !”

 

**_//Redfield! Hey!//_ **

 

The light pink flush turned a deeper shade towards red and the next thing Chris felt were smaller hands pushing at his face as Leon scrambled back from him, kicking frantically at his body. The kicks weren’t violent, more like pushes to get away.

 

“Calm down!” Chris raised his hands to shield himself just in case Leon decided to kick at his face next. “Leon!”

 

**_//Chris?!//_ **

 

Leon’s chest heaved with hard pants, pressing himself against the cold wall and glaring at Chris with a mixed expression that the captain recognized as shock, embarrassment, confusion, and a hint of gratefulness all at once.

 

Being completely naked, Leon had drawn his legs all the way up, ankles just barely enough to cover the sight of his privates as he leered at the larger man.

 

“What the hell?!” Leon yelled at him, not really knowing what to say or do. He’d never been in a situation like this before.

 

**_//Chris?! Do you copy?!//_ **

 

Chris learned something else about Leon Scott Kennedy that day. Something that he never, ever expected to think. 

 

“G-get out...” the blond stammered. “Get out!”

 

Leon had been cute as a rookie.

 

“Get  _ OUT _ !”

 

**_//Chris?//_ **

 

“...I copy.” Chris said almost dumbly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Notes END:  
> Whoot! We’re getting somewhere! I think? I hope so.
> 
> Well, I had to look up a lot of things in downtown Washington to make this chapter feel as realistic as possible. But I did have to make a few changes and assumptions, especially with regards to the public transport system. 
> 
> The way Chris and Leon get to Walmart Supercenter, located on Riggs Road would actually use a train, if I’m not mistaken. I don’t know, I just used google maps and it seemed to be a total of 35 minutes getting there, with 10 minutes on the train (5 stops). It’s also a 14 minute walk to the station, and after getting off at the desired station, it’s nother 11 minute walk. 
> 
> POOR LEON! He’s already tired! In my mind, I shortened the distance by using bus stops instead of a long walk to a metro station, to give Leon a break, and made the bus ride 30 minutes. I thought it would at least give Leon some time to shut his eyes. 
> 
> I didn’t reference the stations or streets because I’ve only ever been to Florida, North and South Dakota, Carolina (I forget where), California and I forget what state we were in when we entered Yellowstone National Park. It was so long ago too! As for the Walmart Supercenter, I just assumed it would be there in 1998 and wasn’t going to do a history search just for a fanfic (lazy me). Sorry if there mistakes there for any American readers.
> 
> As for the way their communications work...this is a trashfic, so there. I don’t even fucking know. People wanted it, I wrote it. Shoot me. I’m sorry if this Chapter was such a dense mess. I feel like too much happened in it. But I am trying to get this done in 5. Got plans with other Leons and I really want to make those happen.
> 
> Cheers,  
> HentaiPrincess06


	3. Comforting A Kid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chris finds both Leons's questions about the fate of Piers Nivans difficult to answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note:  
> i’VE FINALLY LANDED AND AM SETTLING INTO THE NEW COUNTRY AND THE NEW HOUSE~!
> 
> I actually started writing this chapter whilst still back in the house I was moving out of. But...who knows when I’ll actually finish or post it. Maybe it’ll be by the time I’ve moved countries (for the 4th time in my entire 20-year-life, urgh) and gotten to work settling into the new house.
> 
> My parents are retiring, so it’s a lot of work for someone in their twenties and still trying to figure shit out. But enough about me, the fic is what we’re here for right?! If I can distress by writing it, then hopefully you can destress while reading it!
> 
> I’m so sorry that this chapter ended up being too long. I couldn’t find anything to cut out. I suspect that since this is the third Chapter in this series under the C-verse, it might happen that the ‘middle’ of every series under the C-verse, thanks to its nature may be longer than the rest. Please enjoy anyway!
> 
> Cheers,  
> HentaiPrincess06

 

_“Yeah?”_

 

_“How long can we keep going like this?”_

 

Leon pressed his lips together hard to keep from crying out, when the man’s larger hands began to press into the swollen skin around his bullet wound. The flesh was an angry mix of red, blue and purple.

 

“I said I can do it myself...” he protested.

 

Chris sighed. How had he ended up really babysitting Leon Scott Kennedy for real? Maybe he shouldn’t have tempted fate with a joke like that.

 

After their little slip-up, Chris had left the bathroom to get changed, whilst Leon actually got to showering...as best as he could with the wound still stinging. When the younger man had asked for a first aid kit, Chris had elected to help him clean the wound out of guilt. With the shower stall slid open, the small size of the bathroom allowed Chris to sit on the toilet-seat whilst Leon sat on a small stool.

 

It was still awfully awkward--but with Leon too squeamish to deal with his first bullet wound, he didn’t complain. Not that he would admit he was too squeamish. No way.

 

“Sure. Just like how you can remember to turn the hot water on. You need sleep, Kennedy.” Chris scolded. “Horsing around in the shower isn’t going to get you to bed quickly, is it?”

 

Chris stifled the showerhead with his thumb to make the water flow like a stream down Leon’s skin, instead of the separate jets the showerhead was designed for. How was he supposed to deal with this? He’d already apologized. What else was he supposed to say? It was getting harder and harder to remember that this kid was Leon Scott Kennedy. He was entirely unfamiliar with side to him at all.

 

Leon flinched at that remark. “It was an accident! You’re one to talk, you touched--”

 

Leon stopped himself from saying any more. He felt a ripple of embarrassment shoot up from his toes to his ears, which turned red. He still had his hands between his legs to protect himself from any further contact with his crotch, despite a now soaked, small towel draped over his thighs to hide his privates.

 

“So...you’re...a _bum chum_?” Leon had never felt the need to hide like this before and it was infuriating.

 

Chris paused, lowering his hands. “What?”

 

“You know...a _donut puncher_ ?” Leon tried again--trying to recall the terms some of his academy-mates used. “A _fudge packer_?”

 

Chris took a deep breath, resting his elbows on his pants so as not to get the new pair he’d just changed into wet as well. What was Leon going on about? The terms sounded familiar, but he couldn’t quite--

 

“A _leather daddy_?”

 

The B.S.A.A. captain slowly felt himself die a little when he realised Leon had been using now-derogatory terms for 'gay man'.

 

“...are you _officially_ asking?” Chris questioned, wondering why he’d even needed to have this conversation. “If so, it doesn’t matter to me if it’s not the mission.”

 

Leon swallowed, looking at the larger man towering over him from where he sat with a new sense of trepidation. “...what?”

 

“Answering your question directly…” Chris continued, feeling a little like a bully when Leon shrank. “...leather’s comfortable, but it starts chaffing after awhile.”

 

Oh god. Chris prayed that Leon didn’t remember this when he got back. Especially with the poking fun at him just to see the kid squirm--no, wait, _especially_ the double crotch-touch. Speaking of which, he needed to make a call to Leon--the _other_ Leon. No, wait...they were the same Leon. God, Chris needed to stop thinking about how this was even happening.

 

“You’re a damn handful.” Chris finally settled on remarking, instead.

 

Still, _this_ Leon was more manageable than the drunk Chris had to look after just a night ago. At least, he thought it was a night ago. No, he wasn’t going to worry too much about the way _time_ of all things, worked, Chris reminded himself.

 

Leon was offended, but at least he wasn’t caught eavesdropping, so he didn’t retort any further; not that he’d heard anything in particular. He just snorted and looked away.

 

Chris went back to cleaning the wound, before getting up and letting Leon dry off. “Don’t worry about getting blood on the towels.”

 

“Sure…” Leon grumbled as he stood, holding the damp towel in front of him just for personal security.

 

Chris left the bathroom. “Need to check in. I’ll dress that up once you’re out.”

 

Maybe he’d been too harsh, Leon thought. Afterall, the captain had saved him from a rather nasty fall. The walls were concrete and the tiles were thick--it would’ve meant a really bad concussion if his head had impacted at the angle he’d slipped.

 

And the knee and hand had been an accident…

 

Still, he couldn’t deny that being man-handled by someone with such a large stature and imposing figure wasn’t humiliating.

 

“Urgh…” Leon ground his teeth together.

 

How was he supposed to deal with this?

 

.

.

.

 

**\---**

**\--- 2014**

**\---**

 

**_//Sorry about that.//_ **

 

“What the hell happened?” Leon demanded, pissed. “You better not be kidding around, Redfield!”

 

**_//Just tripped over something. It’s nothing. What were you saying?//_ **

 

Leon relented, drawing a heavy sigh. “......according to tech, you’ll need to make your way over to your exact arrival coordinates.”

 

**_//Copy that. Anything else?//_ **

 

“Drop the damn call signs for once, Redfield. You’re off-duty.” Leon snapped a little irritably.

 

**_//You don’t use call-signs?//_ **

 

“Not D.S.O. style.” Leon replied. “Well, not _my_ style.”

 

**_//Huh. Hey, Leon...//_ **

 

“What?”

 

A pause.

 

**_//...do you remember...what happened after Racoon City?//_ **

 

Leon clenched his jaw. “...what do you mean?”

 

Hands.

 

Large hands.

 

Large hands creeping up his neck.

 

Large fingers caressing the sensitive spot behind his ear to his collar...

 

**_//No. Nevermind. Was just curious since I’m in the same year.//_ **

 

Leon let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding. He pushed the feeling to the back of his mind. He couldn’t afford to be distracted right now.

 

**_//Now about getting home...//_ **

 

It was obvious to Leon even without seeing Chris’s face that the other man had changed the subject deliberately.

 

“Right. You’ll need to be at the exact coordinates you were sent to.” Leon clarified. “I’ll contact you once they’re ready. We’re still in the de-coding stage over here.”

 

**_//At least pay me some courtesy calls, Kennedy.//_ **

 

“Aren’t _you_ in a good mood?” Leon almost grumbled, still trying to shake the unnerving feeling of fingers on his flesh. “Who was that?”

 

Leon had been curious about the screaming for one minute too long now.

 

**_//...just a civi I’ve ended up looking after.//_ **

 

“I see.” Leon replied, brow furrowing.

 

That wasn’t entirely honest. Which, was very unlike Chris Redfield. Did something happen? Why would he need to hide anything from...no, no way it was _that_. Chris wasn’t like that.

 

“Redfield.” Leon said sternly. “...about Nivans…”

 

Silence.

 

“Chris?”

 

**_//Yeah? What about Piers?//_ **

 

Ah. So they’d been on first-name basis as well. _Shit_. Maybe asking was a bad idea. But he’d brought it up now. But there was no way he could tell Chris that one of the times he’d woken up last night, he’d heard it.

 

Chris had been saying Piers’ name in his sleep. And Leon had sat there, watching him fight something unseen in his sleep, hesitating to wake him up.

 

“No, I’m sorry.” Leon forced out. “I shouldn’t have asked.”

 

**//……...we’re still looking for a body.//**

 

“I see. I hope you find him.” Leon spotted Rebecca coming towards him and decided to end the conversation there before it got any worse. “I need to go. Let you know when we’re ready to bring you home.”

 

**_//Thanks.//_ **

 

“Did something happen?!” Rebecca ran over. “You were screaming at Chris?”

 

Leon sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Nothing. Your captain might have a clumsiness issue now that he’s getting old, though.”

 

Rebecca huffed and uttered a small laugh--she was glad they weren’t fighting again. “Oh? Did he slip in the bathroom or something?”

 

“I think so. Sounded like it.” Leon had heard running water afterall.

 

Maybe he should reconsider trusting the B.S.A.A. captain look after him while he was hungover. They were both getting too old for this shit.

 

.

.

.

 

**\---**

**\--- 1998**

**\---**

 

Chris was grateful when Leon had gone right to bed after getting dressed. It was just after noon, but it was high time Leon finally got his head on a pillow.

 

The apartment was quiet after that. Chris, still not quite sure as of how his body would be affected by the difference in the movement of time, decided to try his comms again. He wouldn’t be sleeping anytime soon.

 

“Leon?” Chris said into the tiny receiver at his ear.

 

A short silence. Then…

 

**_//Chris?//_ **

 

“Rebecca?” Chris blinked, not expecting the doctor to be the one to reply.

 

**_//Hold on, I’ll go look for him. Did you need something?//_ **

 

“Just...checking in.” Chris replied with a bit of humor in his voice, “Didn't seem like Agent Kennedy was going to be giving me courtesy calls. I got lonely.”

 

Rebecca laughed, the sound coming through the receiver like a soothing melody.

 

**_//I’m kind of happy...//_ **

 

“Hm?”

 

**_//You two seem to be doing better. I was worried because Leon went over to your place to drink some more and well...the last time that happened...//_ **

 

“He’s not always that bad when he has a little too much.” Chris defended.

 

**_//...yeah...//_ **

 

Rebecca had never seen him drunk--hell, not even Leon had seen him drunk, Chris thought thankfully. In fact, Chris was close to being the same kind of asshole Leon had been at that bar. Only, instead of getting a face full of yelling B.S.A.A. captain demanding he end his vacation, he had Piers Nivans coming in and pulling him back onto his feet.

 

He really needed to apologize to Leon when he got back.

 

**_//Oh. I found him. Heh, he’s asleep!//_ **

 

“Really?” Chris asked--what a coincidence that was.

 

Rebecca let out another laugh. Chris realized just how comforting it was to hear his friends laughing over the comms.

 

**_//He went and hid in the storage closet and fell asleep in the corner...should I wake him up? I really don’t want to...//_ **

 

Glancing over at the bed, Chris’s eyes lingered on the young face. He remembered that face clearly now. He remembered the D.S.O. agent that had tracked him down personally just to let him know that Claire was in trouble. God, that won him over almost right away.

 

“No, let him sleep.” Chris made a disapproving face at how Leon had scurried away to take a nap; he whispered to himself. “Why the storage closet…?”

 

**_//He’s been up for longer than any of us. I tried to tell him to take a nap but you know Leon...//_ **

 

“Yeah…” Chris replied. But he was lost in his own thoughts; lost in the sight of the sleeping form on the bed.

 

Why would anyone go out of their way for someone they’d only met once? Chris had wondered that for a long time. He’d come to appreciate Leon’s decision without fully understanding it.

 

**_//Want to leave a message?//_ **

 

But looking at the sleeping kid now--he finally understood why. He understood just exactly the kind of man Leon Scott Kennedy was, more now, than he did before.

 

A compulsion that he couldn’t explain--maybe it was because he hadn’t been ‘off-duty’ while in the right mind in a long, long time--made pull up a chair and sit next to the sleeping man’s bed.

 

“I was just going to ask him if we could do something other than drinking if I get back there and we’re still technically off-duty.” Chris replied.

 

The last time he had found himself with nothing else to do, it was because he couldn’t remember who he was. Chris never said anything, but he might have instinctively avoided being inactive in duty due to that incident. He would always be grateful that in the end, Piers had come in and had picked him back up from that dark shadow of pain and forgetting.

 

**_//That might be a good idea. What time is it over there?//_ **

 

“Fifteen...twenty-two.” Chris asked.

 

**_//Hm...it is about twice as slow the rate time moves here. I see.//_ **

 

Chris was hardly listening. Getting more and more distracted by the baby-faced man on the bed.

 

“It’s funny.” Chris chuckled, pained now by the memory of the last time he ever saw Piers Nivans. “I didn’t really recognize him at first, you know?”

 

**_//Huh? Who?//_ **

 

Leon’s chest rose and fell in his fitful rest, looking far, far removed from the panicked, pained, gasping man he had watched wake up several times the last time they had shared a room together not too long ago.

 

“I’m with Leon.” Chris explained. “We’re staying together.”

 

**_//Oh. That’s...well...//_ **

 

Chris interrupted her. “I know.”

 

**_//...does he know?//_ **

 

“No, we haven’t met yet. Well, he hasn’t come to find me yet.” Chris continued; quickly moving on to keep from getting scolded. “Kid nearly slipped and hit his head in the shower earlier.”

 

Another laugh from the receiver, only softer--Chris guessed so as not to wake Leon up.

 

**_//Oh jesus, Chris…look. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you to--//_ **

 

“I’m being careful. I didn’t give him my name.” Chris reassured. “He just calls me captain.”

 

A snort and a stifled laugh. But a sigh after that had Chris picturing Rebecca’s expression of disappointment in him.

 

**_//Alright, alright. Oh. I need to go, Chris. I’ll leave the comms here with Leon, okay?//_ **

 

Chris smiled, eyes fixated on Leon. “Sure. I’ll check in again sometime.”

 

Silence again. Now what was he going to do, Chris wondered; not realizing that he was still staring at Leon on the bed. His gaze was fixated on the young face. Leon had soft features as a twenty-something-year-old, Chris mused. He’d probably start another fight with the man if he brought it up when he got back though.

 

Still...this was the same Leon…

 

Chris’s hand moved before he registered what he was doing. What was he doing, reaching over to touch Leon’s face anyway? No, he, really shouldn’t. But it was like he wanted to make sure. Make sure this really was the kid who would become the Leon Scott Kennedy he knew.

 

Despite hints of familiarity, especially in the sleeping man’s face and voice, there was just some sort of disconnect. Like a gap, somewhere between the man he’d made coffee for, and the kid whose neck his fingers were slowly creeping up on, towards his face.

 

He really shouldn’t be touching Leon Scott Kennedy’s face.

 

He really shouldn’t even be _wanting_ to touch Leon Scott Kennedy’s face.

 

Chris’s hand stopped, forefinger tucked behind the lobe of Leon’s ear, thumb sliding over the soft cheek that he was surprised to find was wet.

 

“Wh-...” Chris stopped himself from saying anything.

 

Leon was crying. Leon was crying in his sleep.

 

“A..da…”

 

Leon’s voice hit Chris like a ton of bricks and he withdrew his hand slowly, so as not to wake Leon up. Guilt panged in his gut, dull and empty. What the hell…? Ada?

 

So they’d met in Raccoon City. Chris had his theories, about just how friendly Ada and Leon were before he encountered the man and Helena in Liang Shang. But he didn’t think that their history had stretched this far back. About sixteen years...longer than Chris himself had known Leon.

 

What had happened though? Why was Leon--

 

“Ada!” Leon suddenly cried out.

 

Chris jumped back in his seat when Leon’s hand shot out.

 

Desperate, panicked fingers closed around nothing but thin air. Leon wailed. “Ada NO!”

 

“Kennedy!” Chris finally jumped into action, grabbing Leon’s shoulders. “ _Leon_ , wake up!”

 

Leon’s eyes opened, red from both lack of sleep and tears. “Ada…? C-captain…?”

 

“You’re fine. You’re _safe_.” Chris reassured, instinctual need to save those he was meant to look after kicking in. “You were dreaming.”

 

Leon drew a shaky breath, and Chris found his chest tightening at the sight. He slowly released Leon’s shoulders, letting the younger man find his surroundings.

 

“I’m sorry. I…” Leon sighed, putting his face in his hands. “There were...there were so many people...I couldn’t save them I just-...how do you cope with that?”

 

Chris’s ears rang. The question bounced around in his mind like the ringing of an alarm. Had Leon...Leon Scott Kennedy just asked him that?

 

“Walk forward.” Chris replied, voice low.

 

“I...I _had_ her. I was _holding_ onto her hand and the bridge was falling apart…” Leon began, growing more and more distressed. “I tried to pull her up but my arm just _wouldn’t_ ...it was bleeding too much and I _couldn’t_ pull her up she--”

 

Chris grimaced, taking Leon’s face in his hands, just to make sure the kid was listening to him and couldn’t drift off anywhere else. “Whatever happened, that wasn’t your fault.”

 

“Ada fell...she fell so far d-down…” Leon gasped, staring at Chris.

 

Soft, puppy-blue-eyes met a hardened pale steel blue gaze.

 

Leon had failed to save her once, and Leon didn’t want to lose her ever again. Leon didn’t like losing _anyone_.

 

Chris knew that. Chris had already seen what it did to the man.

 

“I…” Leon struggled to continue his thoughts, his face warmed by the palms and fingers that cradled him.

 

Chris held Leon’s stare, willing the young man to look at him. He understood now, why Leon was so hung up on Ada Wong. Why, despite the evidence Chris and Piers had, Leon knew better.

 

“I-I couldn’t…” Leon pushed himself to speak; panic losing its grip on him.

 

Leon’s breath caught in his throat as he caught the captain’s eyes. The captain’s gaze was steady, but not cold. It held the weight of a thousand lives lost, and a thousand more it needed to protect. A heavy, scarred, but persevering intent drew Leon back into the moment.

 

“I don’t want that to happen again…” Leon whispered, almost absent-mindedly.

 

The eyes staring Leon down softened, and he could see the upturned pull in them that indicated the man was smiling. Leon continued to stare, captivated by those icy blues.

 

It was like Chris’s thumbs were drawn to Leon’s tears, like magnets. He wiped them away, letting his fingers turn wet with the salty pain of Leon’s previous panic.

 

“You’re alive.” Chris suddenly said, still holding Leon’s gaze.

 

“...yeah…” Leon agreed.

 

“What are you going to do now?” Chris asked.

 

Leon blinked, finally breaking his gaze away from the man, his ears turning a shade of red for the third time that day. “I...”

 

Chris’s veins ran cold when he realized what he was doing. He swallowed a lump in his throat he didn’t know he had, turning away to rub the back of his neck awkwardly, finally letting go of Leon’s face.

 

Leon’s cheeks and temples felt cold when the captain’s hands left him.

 

Damn, those eyes were _soft_ , Chris thought despite himself.

 

“Thank you, captain.” Leon said, voice steady again, looking at the man.

 

There wasn’t a smile, but the sincerity in Leon’s damned puppy-like eyes made Chris’s throat tighten with emotion.

 

...was this really _Leon_?

 

.

.

.

 

**\---**

**\--- 2014**

**\---**

 

Rebecca contemplated what she should do next. There wasn’t much time to continue playing around in the storage closet, the techs needed both her and Leon right now.

 

“Oh Chris…” Rebecca sighed, deep in troubled thought.

 

She didn’t feel it was right to be the one to tell Leon what Chris was currently doing. But judging from the data, the signal the comms was stronger when the connection was closeby. In simple terms; the reason it was so easy for them to contact Chris was because Chris was around Leon, and so were they.

 

Rebecca almost laughed at the thought of Leon being a literal walking radio tower.

 

“Hmm..” Leon shifted as he continued to dream.

 

Or rather, a literal sleeping radio tower.

 

“What are we going to do with you…?” Rebecca sighed.

 

She guessed that Leon had scurried into the storage closet because it was dark and quiet in here. Which, was a splendid idea in and of itself. But she also suspected it was because Leon didn’t want his D.S.O. super-agent pride to be hurt any further than it already had.

 

She didn’t think Leon was a humble kind of guy. Then again, she didn’t know him as well as Chris did...if Chris and Leon could get along, then of course Leon wasn’t always a drunk asshole.

 

Leon groaned in his sleep, turning his head to the right and making a face.

 

“Leon?” Rebecca said, but not too loudly.

 

Leon woke with a start, almost jumping to his feet. “Wha--?!”

 

“WOAH!” Rebecca fell back in surprise, landing on her butt on the floor. “Jeez, Leon!”

 

“Who...what…” Leon panted, raising his hands to scratch away at the tingling feeling on his cheeks and temples.

 

Large hands.

 

Large fingers cradling his face.

 

Large fingers that caressed the corners of his eyes and left fire in their wake.

 

“Did you have a nightmare?” Rebecca asked, concerned. She stood up to take Leon’s hands in hers.

 

Leon’s hands were shaking, his neck burned with the lingering touches.

 

Leon met her gaze, looking miserable. But she was one of the people who knew what it was like to be there at the very beginning of everything. “...yeah.”

 

“That’s _rough_.” Rebecca drew a long sigh, completely sincere.

 

Leon smiled and took his hands out of her hold, he went to tilt her chin up in a playful gesture. “Hey, we got work to do. No time for that.”

 

If he wasn’t so worried about Chris, Leon would have taken more time to appreciate how this situation had gotten all three of them to get to know each other better. It wasn’t like he got to personally know people this closely. Hannigan was someone he had constant contact with, and even then not in-person. It was a nice change of pace.

 

“Right.” Rebecca agreed, the pep returning to her voice. “We’re needed over there. Here.”

 

Leon took the little comms device Rebecca offered. “Shit. Where’d I leave that?” He quickly began patting himself down, his front pockets, his hip pockets, his straps, his ammo pockets and his pants pockets.

 

Shit. He’d even forgotten where he’d actually put it on him. Had he even put it on him? _Shit_. He really was getting old.

 

“Don’t worry, it was just over on the crate. Just don’t leave it again.” Rebecca said, reproaching him gently with a raised brow and a pursed lip.

 

“Right...sorry.” Leon said, flinching a little. He put it in the front pocket of his vest; this time patting it to make sure it really was there.

 

Leon followed her out of the storage closet. He was thankful when nobody spotted them leaving. Time to hurry up and get this machine working. Bring Chris home.

 

.

.

.

 

**\---**

**\--- 1998**

**\---**

 

The next day started with a not-so-strange request from Leon after breakfast of eggs, bacon and store-bought hash-browns. The request itself wasn’t strange. But the fact that Chris was hearing it come from the mouth of one Leon Scott Kennedy that he had still to reconcile with the Leon Scott Kennedy he knew sixteen years from now, made it strange.

 

“...today?” Chris asked, staring at Leon in surprise.

 

“I’m going to check in tomorrow.” Leon explained, swallowing a nervous lump in his throat he didn’t know had been there till he did. “I thought it would be nice.”

 

Considering their options--it wouldn’t do him any good to be cooped up for an entire day in this tiny rental apartment, Chris thought. And Leon had a point. The kid might be sent away to training as soon as they deemed him fit to go places tomorrow. It was today, or never.

 

Besides...it wasn’t like Leon remembered...or would, remember anything. Chris still wasn’t sure how that worked. At least...the Leon who was still contacting him from his time didn’t seem to remember anything.

 

Leon _would_ say something, wouldn’t he?

 

Having no real destination in mind, Chris decided that a good ol’ fashion field trip around the famous landmarks and places of Washington D.C. would have to do. It would mean that Leon would be within his limitations of travel, and be able to adjust to what a city was supposed to be, instead of the death-ridden ghost Racoon City had become.

 

They took the Metro this time, Chris watching Leon look more relaxed than he did the day before. Sleep did the kid some real good.

 

The entire ride to their destination, Leon was standing--after letting an old lady take his seat that Chris had made him sit in--and was content to just stand there, watching the stations go by.

 

“...the last time I was on a train, was with Sherry and Claire.” Leon recalled quietly.

 

With there he was standing, right in front of the younger man, Chris was able to hear every word. Unsure if Leon was talking to him, or to himself, he decided not to say anything. Though, he did feel an appreciation for how often Leon was thinking of both his sister and Sherry.

 

Chris finally understood why Sherry respected Leon so much, despite his and Kennedy’s arguments from time to time.

 

“...I wonder…” Leon looked down.

 

How were they? Had Claire found her brother, Chris, yet? And where was Chris anyway? If he was part of S.T.A.R.S according to the documents at the R.P.D., then did that mean they sent him away for a long mission?

 

“...hope she finds him soon…”

 

Chris was not expecting the dejected tone in the other man’s voice and he went from watching the station name being displayed to looking at Leon. Unfortunately for Redfield, he wasn’t in Leon’s head. So Kennedy’s thoughts weren’t exactly out there for him to follow.

 

“Who?” Chris asked; trying to figure out if he’d missed Leon mumbling anything else.

 

Leon’s head snapped up, as if he realized he wasn’t alone on the train full of people. “Oh...I...nothing…”

 

A look at told Chris that Leon suddenly didn’t trust him also clued him in. Leon must have been thinking about Claire. There wasn’t anything else he could be thinking of--Sherry was in custody, Ada was ‘dead’ judging from how Leon had been having nightmares the day and night before, so it could only be Claire.

 

“She will.” Chris said reassuringly.

 

Leon’s expression twisted from distrust, to surprise, to discomfort and a lot of suspicion. “...how do you...nevermind.”

 

“Just trust me, Kennedy.” Chris smiled; resisting a sudden urge to pat Leon on the head.

 

...where had that urge come from?

 

Chris was grateful that arriving at their designated station stopped him from pondering the urge, or why he even had it in the first place too long. Getting off the train, they followed the crowd out from the underground, back into the sunlight. It was a nice hot day; perfect for their sudden and unexpected outing.

 

The city streets were a welcome sight for both men.

 

For Leon, the last time he’d really taken a look at city streets were when it was dark, and lonely, and people had died and gotten back up again. The fluorescent lights in the night sky looked ominous after a time. The bright light and the sounds of people seemed more and more comforting than before now. Seeing the people, feeling the breeze, hearing the bustle...it was so much for Leon to take in and it was all _real_.  

 

For Chris, the last time he’d taken a look at a city was from a top-down and stylized schematic. Most of the time, this was how he saw cities now. A maze of corners made of brick, windows, lights and furniture. It was hard to remember that real people lived in the buildings he was sneaking and aiming around and into. Most of the cities he was in had either been abandoned, or taken over by bastards who made viruses and bioweapons. Buses full of people, monuments, the smell of coffee and sandwiches...it didn’t feel real.

 

“I’ve never been to Washington before.” Leon sighed, letting himself smile at the scenery.

 

He hadn’t really appreciated city life before, but he sure did now. Compared to Raccoon City, Washington was something else. It had a history far deeper than Leon could comprehend. The sights, the sounds, the tourists, both American and foreign, the smells, the towering monuments to the founding of their nation…

 

...all something he wanted to protect. Just like Raccoon City had been.

 

Chris watched as Leon went from staring at the Washington Monument, to the people walking around, to ‘Reflecting Pool’--to the ducks on the water, before whipping his head around to stare at the large building across from it. Like a kid.

 

...huh...when had Chris started thinking of Leon as a kid?

 

“Captain!” Leon called over, halfway to the steps that led up the Lincoln Memorial building--having remembered at the last second that he had company he couldn’t leave behind.

 

Chris chuckled to himself, before following. “Hold up, Kennedy.”

 

He was feeling that slight disconnect again. Was this happy smiling kid who was barely a man really Leon Scott Kennedy? It was amazing. There was a sparkle in his eye and mirth to his wide smile.

 

They both reached the top of the steps, Chris glad to find out that he barely felt it. Guess he wasn’t as old as Leon’s young, peppy self made him feel.

 

“Woah…” Leon’s whisper echoed through the massive hall, joining the countless others.

 

Chris smiled, looking up the well-known and now familiar statue. He’d been here one too many times to count in his years at the B.S.A.A., as it was a favorite place for government parties. As much as he didn’t think the open space was safe, he did appreciate how easy it would be to get anyone out of there, with no doors to close them in. Of course, he and Leon would agree to set up a perimeter with armored cars to get away in.

 

Before Chris could stop himself, he was thinking about the scenario from a security detail perspective as he walked around, paying just enough attention to Leon to follow him.

 

There would definitely need to be a bike, Chris thought. Especially if Leon was going to be helping them out again if he asked him to. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d been to one of these parties as an extra hand, but Leon had never secured one at the Lincoln Memorial before, if Chris recalled properly. Still, even with the armored cars and the bike, he’d need an extra few cars somewhere out of sight--anyone looking to crash the party would go for the first set of getaway vehicles.

 

Any attack would likely have to come from the roof, or a guest at the part who had turned traitor, Chris surmised. Leon or he would be the most likely to suspect anyone in that scenario--

 

“Captain!”

 

...Chris really needed to stop thinking about work.

 

“What is it?” Chris found himself asking rather dumbly, before being handed a hot dog with mustard and ketchup on it.

 

Leon was already chewing on his, looking happier than Chris had ever seen him, now, then, or ever--...in the future? Ever, Chris would settle for ‘ever’. No...that wasn’t quite right, was it? Hadn’t Chris seen Leon make that face before?

 

Damn, he couldn’t remember.

 

“Not hungry?” Leon asked curiously, halfway done with his hot dog.

 

Leon wouldn’t know it, but the captain’s guess had been correct. It was nice to be able to go out. It was nice to be able to go out and eat. It was nice to be able to go out and eat, with someone else. Especially after that long night.

 

Though Leon at this point had his suspicions, he was grateful for this. Asking to come out was obviously something no proper government agent would condone if they were being strict with him. Sadly, Leon didn’t expect anyone in the government to trust him too much without a shock collar on at this point. As cruel as that sounded--he was the only one he knew they had gotten a hold of ‘with the experience they need’.

 

Sure, they were still abiding by the limitations that had been put on him, but it wasn’t like anyone had to be accomodating to his requests. The captain _was_ nice.

 

Chris ate the hot dog, remarking, “They have great hot dogs in Italy.”

 

Sausages. They were sausages, Chris corrected himself in his head.

 

“You’ve--mgph-...been to Italy?” Leon asked, swallowing the last of his half-chewed hot dog and bun.

 

“You’ll get to see a lot soon too.” Chris replied.

 

And there it was again--that weird disconnect. Like babysitting a kid with the same face and name as Leon Scott Kennedy. But this was Leon Scott Kennedy.

 

Chris could feel his temples throb.

 

Luckily, a distraction from Chris’s thoughts came along--no, considering the distraction, perhaps it was more unlucky. Said distraction had come in the form of two very stiff looking ‘tourists’. They were standing and talking to each other, in rather hushed tones lost by the multitude of echoes that were all around them.

 

As casual as they seemed, Chris knew the build of a trained operative. Especially one from around the late nineties era. Their equipment was bulkier too, which meant thicker, larger clothes...on a hot summer day. But...were they government, or were they someone else’s goons?

 

“Anything else you wanna do?” Chris said, offering his quarter-eaten hot dog to Leon.

 

Leon frowned, taking it back. Did the captain not like hot dogs? Or was Leon’s taste too...well, inexperienced? Though the larger man’s eyes were trained on him, he could see that there was a slight undertone of caution in his voice. Was something wrong?

 

“Don’t freak out.” Chris advised calmly with a smile.

 

Leon stared at him, blinking once, twice, not really understanding it. “What?”

 

“Let’s go.” Chris continued, taking Leon’s upper arm--finding the bicep there kind of cute; not as hard as it should’ve been--and gently guiding him into the crowd that was exiting the building.

 

Leon let himself be led away, still confused. “Okay?”

 

He started eating the hot dog as they went, finishing it in a minute and once they were out in open air again. What was the problem, Leon wondered. The captain’s demeanor had changed.

 

“What’s going on?” Leon hissed, just loud enough for only the other man to hear.

 

“Not sure yet.” Chris clarified truthfully. “Could be friendlies, could not be.”

 

It clicked in Leon’s head. That’s why the captain had asked him to not freak out. Okay, no freaking out.

 

“What do they want?” Leon questioned, keeping pace with the captain--at this point his arm had been freed.

 

“Beer.” Chris said casually.

 

Leon stopped, surprised. “Huh? Beer?”

 

“Yeah, might as well go get a beer and sit it out.” Chris explained, just as casually as before.

 

If they were friends, they’d follow, Chris figured. If they weren’t, then they’d follow too, but at a distance. They didn’t seem to have noticed that they’d caught onto them. Which was good. The two men nonchalantly stood at the top of the stairs to the Lincoln Memorial, still idly chatting to each other.

 

“Don’t look back.” Chris said, stopping Leon from doing just that.

 

Leon stiffened, alert. “How do they know we’re here?”

 

“This’ll happen a lot. Better to just not ask why they know and think about finding out why they do and who they are.” Chris advised, like supervising his own trainees.

 

“Okay.” Leon nodded.

 

Chris couldn’t help himself; he smiled placed a hand on Leon’s uninjured shoulder. “...you’ve got a good head on you. Relax. You’ll be fine.”

 

“You seem to really believe that.” Leon pointed out flatly.

 

Was Leon always this snappy? Well, was he always this snappy sober? Chris couldn’t recall. Maybe the alcohol just brought out this chattier, snarkier part of him that he’d always been.

 

They found a nice little cafe and bar near the entrance to the memorial park which to Leon, looked rather pricey. Chris thought it was perfect, since there weren’t so many people, it’d be easier to see who was around them. Besides, with the inflation not having happened to the economy, he had more than enough cash to spare.

 

Hopefully nobody would pay enough attention to look up the codes on his bills. So far so good though.

 

Taking a seat right out at the street-side, Chris re-arranged the seats so that they were both parallel to the park entrance instead of one facing the park and one facing the cafe-bar.

 

Leon took his seat, still somewhat jumpy at the thought of being intentionally followed. He’d never had to deal with anything like this before. Then again, he’d never have to deal with the entire nightmare of Racoon City before. Shouldn’t it be easier to deal with being followed by normal people? Leon thought himself soft and was a little upset upon acknowledging he thought of himself that way.

 

“One amber lager, and one dark lager.” Chris ordered with a nod at the waiter.

 

Leon made a little bit of a mixed expression at the sound of the order; having guessed that his was the amber lager. Guess he should’ve expected that senior officer conduct was similar wherever you want, both at police departments and in the government. Still, wasn’t this technically drinking on-duty for the captain?

 

Were they allowed to do that?

 

“We’re just going to let them tail us?” Leon asked, still under his breath.

 

“Don’t know how long they’ve been doing that, honestly.” Chris admittedly. “But if they’ve been tailing us since the apartment, they could’ve ambushed us anytime.”

 

Leon found that to be a logical answer. So that’s why the captain was so calm about all of this. “Makes sense.”

 

Chris was musing all on his own, in his head, watching Leon sincerely be concerned about the situation, too inexperienced to know anything, but fully relying on him to get them through it. It was different from when he’d worked with Leon before, even before Arias.

 

By that point, he’d trusted Leon enough to leave him on the rooftop with the mutated man-turned-bio-weapon to get some heavier artillery. Even after their argument.

 

Before that point, they’d been mostly back to back, then eventually side-to-side. In all his years, from the Airforce, to S.T.A.R.S., to the B.S.A.A., there were few that could snap into action so perfectly in tandem with him without knowing him well enough. Jill had been like that on their first mission. But Kennedy was something else--rarely did a sentence passed between them when they were unloading on whatever it was that had them surrounded.

 

Hell, accidental run-ins would always turn from a pinscher-attack that had been ambushed on them, into a bait-and-neutralize easy killbox.

 

“Thank you.” Leon said when they’re drinks arrived.

 

He began to squirm a little, realizing the captain’s gaze was stuck on him like glue. Maybe it had been sheer focus, maybe it was because he was supposed to keep an eye on him...but did it really have to be so obvious?

 

Leon didn’t know it was because the B.S.A.A. captain had been deep in thought. The object of all his thoughts was sitting right in front of him...and yet it wasn’t the Leon he knew. Chris tried so hard to find what clicked in those moments where he was able to reconcile the two versions of Leon.

 

Neither Chris nor Leon had the time for that.

 

“And there they are.” Chris almost scoffed, though he simply casually sipped at his mug of beer.

 

Sure enough, Leon could see the same men, identifiable by the color of their clothes, taking a seat somewhere further in the cafe-bar. “You done this before?”

 

“Not really. I just know when someone’s following me while I’m not in uniform.” Chris admitted. “M division is more straightforward military tactics. Not covert.”

 

Hm. Maybe he would indulge the kid. There was something in the younger version of Leon that Chris could compare with his new recruits sometimes. The younger ones were always full of energy and eager, curious...if a little reckless sometimes. But Leon...this, Leon...there was something else there.

 

Every man who volunteered to join the B.S.A.A. of course had that steady determination to protect. Chris was sure that police officers were like that too.

 

Leon though...there was something dangerous in that gentle look in the kid’s eye. Something that Chris could very clearly see in the Leon he had gotten to know. A sweet, self-destructive desire to hold the entire universe in one’s hands, even if it meant destroying oneself.

 

And Leon would, Chris knew.

 

Maybe, at least right now, he could let Leon enjoy the way he was now. “Want to hear some stories?

 

“Really? Sure.” Leon accepted enthusiastically, taking a sip of his amber lager.

 

Leon made a face and Chris laughed. Recounting his story to the kid felt easier with how Leon was behaving.

 

Chris slowly recalled the one time he had been taking some time off once Claire was safely rescued from the Antarctic Base that Umbrella had constructed and he base was destroyed. Of course, without saying who he’d rescued, preferring to use the words ‘hostage’ ‘operative’, ‘the enemy base’ or ‘the base’, among others to substitute.

 

He and Claire had finally arrived on sweet U.S. soil once again, and he was eager to get her home safely, and touch base with Jill. Unfortunately for them, there were a couple of people who had decided to wait for their arrival at the airport. After time, Chris realized they’d turned every street corner and even followed them down into a rather-out-of-the-way Metro and even he and Claire had to add an extra stretch to get to, instead of their usual route.

 

Chris’s gut feeling had been right, when he spotted one of the two reaching into their coat to take out something small--something that turned out to be a syringe. Chris had managed to catch them off-guard around a corner and disarmed the man with the syringe, only for his partner to point a gun at his head.

 

“What? What happened then?!” Leon asked, excitedly.

 

“She shot him.” Chris finished.

 

“What?” Leon’s jaw fell open slightly. “She shot him!?”

 

“Yeah. She’s a tough one, that girl.” Chris chuckled. “Took him right out, just how I taught her.”

 

Chris was beaming and Leon noticed.

 

“Sounds like a couple girls I know--...knew…” Leon corrected himself. Right, Ada was dead and Claire was somewhere...who knows if they’d see each other again.

 

Leon was dejected and Chris noticed.

 

“There was this one time I met a fellow operative by accident.” Chris pushed, hoping to catch Leon’s attention and draw him back to the moment.

 

He recalled an event in 2005, that was barely a blip in their overall investigation. But he still managed to make Claire laugh with the story.

 

“We got a tip-off that an executive of the organization we thought had been defunct.” Chris explained, referring to Ill Veltro without outright saying their name. “Before dispatching us overseas to investigate further, we were going to apprehend the target in Riga, Latvia.”

 

Leon glanced quickly at the two men, who had ordered what he assumed to be coffee, then leaned towards Chris. “You sure it’s okay to be telling me places?”

 

“Places are places.” Chris replied, continuing on. “It happened in an outdoor cafe, lot like this one. Was waiting for target when I noticed someone was tailing me again. He was good, real good, this time around.”

 

“Really?” Leon asked, taking a small sip of his beer, trying to down it properly. It was too bubbly and too bitter. “How?”

 

“I didn’t spot him until he was almost right behind me.” Chris chuckled fondly.

 

To Leon, a little too fondly, in fact. What was the captain laughing at?

 

“Spotted him while passing by a shop and saw his reflection. Just luck.” Chris explained. “Saw him reaching for me and I turned and caught his hand.”

 

Leon was listening intently now, completely forgetting that they, too, were being followed.

 

“Tried to restrain him. Guess who ended up in an armlock on the street?” Chris laughed softly.

 

Leon’s eyes were wide. “What? No way.”

 

“Turned out it was--” Chris stopped himself; he was looking right at the guy who’d done it. “--the same agent who tipped me off to the hostage from a few years back. Took me a second to recognize him, actually. We hadn’t seen each other in seven years by then.”

 

“Even whole years?” Leon asked, incredulous. “That’s a long time to not see each other…”

 

Leon felt his chest tighten. It sounded like not seeing co-workers--or, well...fellow operatives in a long time, was normal. The captain sure didn’t seem to mind.

 

“He’d gotten real good in that time.” Chris complimented, looking at Leon. “I knew he was slightly different from the stories I was told about him to the first time we met. He’s gotten really dangerous. It was impressive.”

Leon made a face. He didn’t understand what was so funny.

 

“I egged him in the face.” Chris finished, leaning back and taking a swing at his beer, watching Leon.

 

Leon’s face twisted in a subdued grimace, and then he laughed. “What? How?”

 

“I dunno. One minute I was trying to get him off me, and the next thing I knew, I had my hand on his face and I’d broken an egg on it.”

 

“That doesn’t make any sense!” Leon protested. “You better not be kidding around, captain.”

 

Chris felt a little jitter of amusement at the line he recognized as being the exact same one Leon had used with him on the comms the other day. “Believe what you want. That’s what happened. There was no egg, and suddenly there was an egg.”

 

After their beers, Leon was feeling a little better than he was when the captain had first told him they were being followed. He followed him back to the apartment they had, not aware of the two men following them.He’d even spotted a few more along the way.

 

However the captain himself didn’t seem bothered by any of the men.

 

From their demeanor, Chris didn’t see anything hostile. No syringes, no cloths, no tasers (or other devices), demeanor relaxed, chatting with one another. Sure, he and Leon had used the same tactic before, but they nary even glanced in their direction, simply doing so every ten minutes along the train ride back to the apartment.

 

At the station, he and Leon took a deserted route, and the group of what was now about six men (easy for Chris to take care of it needed), broke off, with only one man following them back.

 

“Seems like they’re just making sure you don’t leave Washington.”

 

Leon was really suspicious now. How could someone working for the government not be sure if they were being tailed by friend or foe? Then again, the captain had made the same mistake when he met his fellow operative in Riga.

 

“Well, at least they don’t work for Umbrella.” Leon was honestly relieved.

 

“Or someone else.” Chis corrected.

 

\---

 

Chris, with his babysitting charge Leon in tow, arrived back at the apartment, where along the way, they stopped by a minimart nearby, and the last stalker finally let them go. Satisfied that his speculation that this was simply ‘98’s old government’s way of keeping an eye on their asset--Leon--Chris put thoughts of the stalking aside.

 

They got to work, setting their meager groceries down.

 

“Why the lemons?” Leon asked, spotting the two yellow fruits.

 

“Beer.” Chris replied. “If you’re going to be evaluated as ready for training tomorrow, then you’ll need to get the alcohol out of you faster. Lemons.”

 

Leon’s eyebrows shot up when he got his answer. “Huh. Didn’t know that.”

 

“Most don’t. But you’re going to have to pick up a few things to stay in peak performance.” Chris lectured as he got the cutting board and knife out.

 

“I can do that.” Leon volunteered, starting to feel more and more like he was being babied.

 

Chris smiled at him, resisting the urge to pat the kid on the head--this was Leon, Chris, remember that--and agreeing. “Alright.”

 

Leon took the captain’s place at the counter, going to rinse the lemons off before returning them to the cutting board. As he heard the sounds of the other man going through the bags to place the respective items into cupboards, he felt a little...embarrassed? Maybe. It was the closest feeling he could identify with a word attached to it.

 

It was all so domestic.

 

“Gh-!” Leon flinched when he’d caught the very tip of his pinky in the blade’s path.

 

“Maybe letting you do that was a bad decision.” Chris teased, going to take the knife from Leon and put it down on the counter. “Come on, here’s a bandaid.”

 

Chris couldn’t help but think that yes, maybe he was enjoying this. Maybe Leon was going to knock him out for all of this once he was back home.

 

“Maybe letting you think you could treat me like a baby was a bad decision.” Leon snapped back, holding his hand out as Chris wrapped a bandage around it.

 

Leon didn’t think that he had made yet another bad decision ever since the one where he decided to head in for his first day as a cop to Racoon City. Even then, everything after that, he’d chalked up to luck, Claire, or Ada. His thoughts wandered, watching the captain finish squeezing both lemon.

 

“Can you make the tea?” Chris asked. Won’t cut yourself doing that, right?”

 

Leon snorted, but he didn’t say anything, busy with his own musings. The captain had people he missed too, Leon thought, on his way to get the pitcher they’d just bought. They worked in relative silence until the tea was made, chilled, and was ready after Chris to finished it off with the sugar and lemon juice.

 

“By the way...” Leon asked, taking the drink handed to him--it was cool to the touch and very nice going down. “Who’s Piers?”

 

Chris almost dropped the glass he was holding. “...what?”

 

Leon realized he’d just made yet another bad decision, watching the older man slowly set his half-empty glass down.

 

“Uh...Piers...you…” Leon coughed awkwardly, quickly downing the rest of his iced lemon tea. “Sorry, it’s not my business.”

 

“How do _you_ know that?” Chris demanded, voice a little more firm. He took a step towards Leon.

 

The smaller man’s shoulders stiffened after he put the glass down on the counter, worried what might happen next. “I didn’t mean to--”

 

“ _How_ do _you_ know about that?!” Chris’ hand moved on his own and he went to grab Leon’s shirt.

 

Leon shut his eyes on reflex, his arms going up to protect himself--a habit he’d picked up after being punched at one too many times by a massive tyrant.

 

Chris caught himself, stopping short of Leon’s wrists.

 

This _wasn’t_ the Leon he knew.

 

This Leon _wasn’t_ trying to push his buttons.

 

This Leon _didn’t_ _know_ what boundaries they had between each other.

 

This Leon was some scared _kid_ , who _just_ survived Racoon City with _nothing but Police Academy training_.

 

“You talk in your sleep.” Leon said, throat tight; arms still raised defensively. His shoulders rose and fell with frightened breaths. “You kept on saying that name…”

 

Chris felt his stomach knot up with guilt when he realised he almost just hurt some kid, with Leon’s name and face, who didn’t know _anything_ yet. He lowered his hand. Of course he’d heard him. How’d Chris not realised? The kid hadn’t been able to sleep properly after all. He knew that.

 

This...wasn’t the Leon he had come to know.

 

How was Chris supposed to deal with this?

 

Realising that the captain wasn’t going to do anything, Leon slowly opened his eyes and lowered his arms slightly, sheepishly looking up at the taller man.

 

“Sorry.” Chris apologised--the coil of guilt tightening.

 

Leon swallowed, finally lowering his arms. He shrugged, waving a hand half-heartedly. “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”

 

Chris’s eyes lit up with recognition.

 

Had...had he also talked in his sleep that night Leon was drunk? Is that why Leon had brought up Piers?

 

“No, I shouldn’t have reacted that way.” Chris corrected. “We’re...still looking for him.”

 

Leon chewed on his lip a little awkwardly. “Well, I hope you find him.”

 

...no, maybe this _was_ the same Leon, Chris mused.

 

“I do too.” Chris said, raising his hand towards Leon.

 

Leon blinked several times, head jerking back a little in caution. He was confused into speechlessness when he felt large fingers threading through his hair.

 

Chris brushed Leon’s hair, looking at him hard; trying to comprehend. Ever since he’d met this Leon, he’d struggled with the fact that he was really _with_ Leon Scott Kennedy. That, this scared kid who was looking at him with those terrified, but hopeful, puppy-blue eyes was the same man who had been spouting insults at him in that lonely no-name bar, in that lonelier no-name town.

 

“Thanks, Leon.” Chris said with a smile.

 

Leon hadn’t noticed before, but, this man had always called him by his first name. He didn’t even know his. Suddenly, all of Leon’s suspicious returned to him at once. He had to ask _now_. He’d likely not see the captain again after he checked-in to the US-STRATCOMM office tomorrow.

 

“Captain...” Leon said, wondering if he was going to make yet another mistake. “I appreciate everything you’ve done for me…”

 

Leon paused. It was hard to say.

 

“I really do. You don’t have to keep lying to me.” he managed to finish.

 

Chris kept his body relaxed--the same reflex as before, to getting caught or having his cover blown. The first thing to do was not panic. “Kennedy?”

 

“...look, I’m not stupid alright?” Leon’s throat was strained, he was slightly offended at the thought. “There’s no way a government agent would look after me like this.”

 

“Told you. Never been one for undercover work. ” Chris shrugged light-heartedly. “Never really did know how to lie.”

 

Leon was surprised to hear the captain admit it so easily. There was a strength in the way the older man was relaxed; something only experience in being in much worse situations than this could do. It was inspiring, Leon thought.

 

“I am sorry that I did.” Chris folded his arms across his chest. “But I had to.”

 

“Thank you.” Leon said sincerely, he looked at the larger man dead in the eye. “Even if you did lie to me.”

 

Bright, puppy-blue eyes, filled with a determination, sincerity and perseverance, overflowing and spilling out much like the tears Leon had cried on the two nights Chris had spent with him--and the captain assumed, many nights they hadn’t spent in each others company.

 

“Guess I won’t see you again.” Leon’s throat moved to swallow as he said that--but when he’d realised that he was doing so, he turned around to face the windows, but his head was angled down at the floor rather than the glass itself.

 

It was obvious he was dejected.

 

“You don’t know that.” Chris reassured, obviously knowing more than he could tell. “Come on, Kennedy.”

 

Leon’s head snapped up and he walked across the room to the window, whilst mentally berating himself for looking so stupid. He was a man dammit, a fully grown man. He’d survived the worst. He’d have to go it alone a lot maybe. Or with someone else he barely knew.

 

Chris watched as the young man said nothing, just standing there, back to him, staring at nothing in particular, he guessed. The silence stretched on. Chris expected it to--it was a hard time for the future-agent, right then and there. In that moment that to him, was already a decade and a half ago. It was like watching a sad family video of an awful memory.

 

Leon told himself he couldn't’ get attached like that again. Not after Ada. _Shit_ , he didn’t even know whether Sherry or Claire really were going to be okay. He just hoped that the captain was telling the truth.

 

Chris crossed the room to join Leon, standing right behind him.

 

The B.S.A.A. captain contemplated saying something. But what was there else to say? Should he move on and play it off? No, sometimes that was enough to push anyone; even a soldier, over the edge, as hardened as men could get. The Leon before him now was just a kid...just a traumatised, inexperienced kid who’d barely managed to escape Racoon City and save a little girl along the way with the help of Claire--who at that point, was a woman Leon barely knew.

 

Leon didn’t like how he was questioning who to trust. This wasn’t like some small-town friend-circles kind of trust. This was more intense than the academy training where you had it hammered into you that you needed to believe the partner who had your back really did. It felt more than just holding his own life and his partner’s life in his hands...like the entire world was relying on him. And how was he not supposed to feel that way?

 

Leon really missed Claire. She was someone he could trust.

 

Chris shook his head. He could feel it--Leon’s thoughts getting farther and farther away. He’d seen it happen to some of his men. He’d gone through it himself (thank the heavens for Piers), and knew how bad it could get. He knew the signs.

 

The silence. The lack of movement. The loss of words. And he was watching Leon do the exact same thing. The only difference was that there wasn’t a drink in his hand and he had less weathering on that young face.

 

“Leon.” Chris said.

 

Leon took a moment to hear him. “...yes…?”

 

...but the kid clearly wasn’t listening.

 

“Leon.” Chris tried again, this time reaching out to grab Leon’s arm, turning him around.

 

Leon turned, not so much ignoring what the captain was doing, but more so he didn’t really have enough capacity to care at that point.

 

“I’m fine.” Leon said unconvincingly, even to himself.

 

There was too much on his mind. Those soft blue eyes were now a thousand miles away, deep in worry, conflicted with thought. Chris was holding him right there, both men rooted to the spot. But Leon was drifting away, somewhere Chris thought he couldn’t reach him.

 

No. No, Chris could. He knew there had to be a way. He just had to figure it out.

 

“I...” Leon tried again. “Im fine, I just--I know you’ve done a lot for me. I know it’s not going to be easy after this. I just want to...I want to do so much more than just sit here and wait--”

 

Chris saw Leon’s eyes dart everywhere but at him. Avoiding his gaze, stumbling over his words, mumbling and then speaking loudly. And something inside Chris melted.

 

Something deep-seated, something Chris hadn’t explored himself enough to understand, compelled him. He reached for Leon.

 

“I want to see Sherry. I want to check up on Claire...I want to know where they are, but I don’t know if I should ask. I know that the people who did this, Umbrella and whoever else they’re out there. They’re out there and I know they need help and I can’t not--”

 

But he didn’t get to finish.

 

If you asked the captain of the B.S.A.A., he would tell you that when you were hardened into a soldier instead of a man, you end up doing things your body finds natural; an instinctual reaction to a special kind of situation that happens to send all your senses into overdrive. It could be physically. It could be emotionally. Or, it could simply be that as a soldier, watching your men about to be swept away by death in slow motion, you have nothing else to do than jump in between the two and tell death ‘not today’.

 

Sometimes, it’s that simple.

 

But if you asked Chris Redfield, he would tell you that there was a place and a time for everything--but that had been neither the place, nor the time. He would tell you that he could see the trainwreck of everything that came after Racoon City, knowing full well about the sheer horror of it all, having been through the same. He would say that he saw the series of events--all in slow motion, like a bullet train--coming straight for the puppy-blue-eyed, golden-hearted young man in front of him. By god, he would tell you that he hated himself right then and there, for not being to stop any of it.

 

Chris Redfield would tell you that he had absolutely no idea why the hell he kissed Leon Scott Kennedy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Notes END:  
> Oho! I ended up having a lot of cute Leon and Rebecca bonding and Chris and Rebecca bonding in this one! Completely unexpected but I felt bad for how they had that fight in Vendetta. Like come on kids! You’re all in the same shitty boat, get along!
> 
> My hands just did what they wanted I guess. I’m very sorry. Rebecca’s a very level-headed kinda girl, but I do find her dialogue to be more lax than Chris’s. Whereas Leon is more of a wildcard. Sometimes he’ll go by the proper protocol and call-signs...unless he knows you like he knows Claire, Ada, Chris or Rebecca. In which case, he’ll just speak like a normal-ass Leon.
> 
> Urgh, Leon’s dialogue is tricky to get right without being OOC I swear. As for his happy little excited face, there’s this one GIF of him turning and just REALLY HAPPY TO SEE YOU at the end of RE2Remake and that’s the kind of feeling I was going for. I hate writing without reference. I prefer the characters feel as they should otherwise it would be a disservice to the originals haha! ^^’
> 
> I hope this chapter wasn’t too slow (and or too long) for you. >///< Like, I wanted a slow burn, but I didn’t want it to be so slow that it was boring, but not so rushed that it felt super dubious.
> 
> Also Chris, did you just pull an Ada? Yeah, Leon will do that to you. I mean Ada kisses and uses him, Claire flirts with him while there’s like a fucking zombie laying right behind her, Mr.X wants a piece of that ass--I’m sorry what.
> 
> ANYHOO, I'm so sorry that it's been so busy for me IRL this past couple of weeks! Thank you so so so much for being patient with me, ESPECIALLY those of you waiting on me for more Mr.X stuff! Don't worry, I haven't given up on the concept yet! But I won't spoil anything! I know it's a lot to ask when I've taken so many breaks, but I need to ask you guys for a bit more time for that Mr.X/Leon goodness! Execution is very important to me, so rushing it feels really bad.
> 
> Thank you so much for sticking with me! I'll still be busy settling into the new country and the new home. I'll update here, and on Twitter with some sketches when I can! I love you all~!
> 
> Cheers,  
> HentaiPrincess06
> 
> P.S. Leon is in the closet. ;)


	4. Zombies and Men

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vendetta!Chris finds it hard to not like kissing RE2Remake!Leon. Vendetta!Leon has some bonding time with friends he didn't realize he had.
> 
> Alone, RE2Remake!Leon gets into some trauma-inducing trouble....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDIT (APRIL 21 2019): Sorry about deleting this chapter! I think this was accidentally posted when I’d scheduled it to! I didn’t realize I was answering questions to Chapter 4 (which, by that point, I had decided was insufficient to post but forgot I’d sched already!)
> 
> It’s back and the final scene has been edited! I’m so sorry for the wait! Please enjoy!
> 
> \---
> 
> Author’s Note:  
> So I am still not free from the clutches of my horrible schedule! For now...but, at least I had time to make this update, isn’t that great?!
> 
> I hope you haven’t been left hanging too long after the way I left the last chapter so abruptly like that! For this chapter, I’ll be having some more focus on Vendetta!Leon, since he's such a grumpy old man that needs more TLC in his life! Thanks for always sticking by me, even though my updates are slow coming. 
> 
> I tend to work on multiple things at the same time, and currently am considering starting my own OC comic projects up again. If any one of you would be interested in any of my OC work (I do have some cute boys I ship despite it not being canon, haha, what a life it is to be a fujoshi amirite?), please feel free to ask!

 

**\---**

 

_ “How long can we keep going like this?” _

 

_ “...I dunno. I never make plans that far ahead.” _

 

Chris Redfield sure as hell didn’t plan for something like this.

 

“M-mph…!?” 

 

Chris Redfield sure as hell that he had no idea he’d be capable of something like this. This, this was... _ this _ was a bad idea.

 

Leon sighed into the kiss, suddenly feeling the floor beneath his feet. Suddenly aware of what was happening--where he was, what he was doing. “Cap-mph..ah…”

 

Chris didn’t let him speak, he sucked on the younger man’s lip, relishing in the yelp Leon uttered, shifting to slide an arm around Leon’s much slimmer waist and another hand raised to caress the young man’s face. 

 

Leon sighed senses going on full alert for just a moment, before relaxing once again when the kiss returned to a slow, languid pecks on the lips. After a few pecks and light sucks on his lip, Leon finally found himself again.

 

In the captain’s grasp, he found himself again.

 

He was right there, in the quiet room, panting into the captain’s face. His head was spinning, the kiss had been none he’d ever had before. It was intense, but also sweet in a way that wasn’t ensnaring. Unlike any girl Leon had ever kissed--or well, been kissed by, (Ada being the only one who had kissed him first, ever,) the captain’s kiss was like a torrent.

 

Instead of shocking sparks that made his senses go overboard, it was like a low, rumbling, building warmth. Comforting--yes, it was comforting.

 

“You with me, Kennedy?” Chris asked, voice heavy.

 

Leon stared up at the captain, his cheeks were on fire, his ears were hot, feeling saliva all over his hips and threatening to overflow at the corners of his mouth. His mouth wanted more. 

 

“..yeah…” Leon panted.

 

Chris admired the face he held in his hand, the cheeks flushed, lips panting, and a frightened look in puppy-blue eyes that swirled with emotion...and a look he recognized as budding arousal. A feeling he sympathized with completely.

 

“Are you alright?” Chris asked, touching his nose to Leon’s, just to keep their faces close.

 

Leon panted lightly, staring back at the captain, shocked, amazed, confused but oddly...not upset. “...yeah.”

 

The captain had brought him back from getting lost in dark thoughts that Leon didn’t know he could even have. It was like that time with Ada, in the tram, only...only she had been using him. Then...what was this?

 

“Are you here, with me?” Chris asked, licking his lips to get the last of Leon’s taste. “...are you?”

 

“I’m here.” Leon responded.

 

_ Wow _ , Leon thought. 

 

_ Shit _ , Chris thought.

 

What had he just  _ done _ ? Why had he just  _ kissed _ Leon Scott Kennedy? No, that, that wasn’t the real problem. The real problem was that there had been no protocol for this sort of situation. No, that wasn’t the problem either--the real,  _ real _ problem was that he didn’t want to stop there.

 

He  _ needed _ to stop there.

 

Chris moved to let go of Leon, when he felt the younger mans’ hand, trembling, sliding up to meet his own. His breath caught in his throat.

 

Leon leaned into the hand, smiling, almost fondly, still in a daze, but this time he was no longer frantic or worried.

 

Chris thought he looked beautiful like that.

 

_ Holy shit _ . He thought Leon Scott Kennedy looked  _ beautiful _ , of all things. He leaned in and kissed him again, briefly this time, a simple peck on the lips.

 

“...captain…” Leon mumbled. “I-I’m fine now…thank you.”

 

“Right. Sorry.” Chris apologized, stepping back and finally relinquishing his hold on Leon.

 

...he was dead. Chris knew it. Chris was  _ dead _ . 

 

Chris was dead when he got home for this. Chris was dead and it was going to be Leon’s doing. Chris was dead, and it would be because put Matilda to his forehead and pulled the trigger. Scratch that, Chris was more than dead. Leon was probably going to set his corpse on fire for good measure.

 

Division of Security Operations Agent Leon Scott Kennedy was going to put Matilda to his forehead, pull the trigger, set his corpse on fire...and Claire was going to fuel the fire with gasoline.

 

“Captain…” Leon’s hand followed his, grabbing a hold of his. “Am I going to see you again?”

 

Chris’s mental self-loathing spree screeched to a halt. Soft fingers caressed the knuckles of his open hand and Chris looked down to find Leon hanging onto him. 

 

Leon hung his head low, which frustrated Chris because he couldn’t see his eyes. This Leon...this younger, more vulnerable Leon...he couldn’t read him like he could the Leon he had grown to know. Or at least...he thought he knew Leon.

 

...did he actually  _ know _ Leon?

 

Of course--nobody could really know anyone. Someone like Leon Scott Kennedy would have even more things he couldn’t tell other people.  _ Shit _ . Did Leon  _ remember _ this? Chris felt guilty for even thinking he should check-in just to make sure Leon didn’t.

 

Leon was staring at the hand he was holding, too embarrassed to look up at the captain. He had really enjoyed the kiss--a little too much, in fact. His body felt like it was being stoked by fire.

 

“You will.” Chris said, knowing it was true, but it was also untrue.

 

He wouldn’t even meet Leon until later next year. He wouldn’t even know this was the Leon he had kissed until far, far later. It was so unfair to Leon.

 

_ He needed to stop there. _

 

“When?” Leon asked. “When will I see you again?”

 

Chris replied honestly. “I don’t know.”

 

Leon’s hand closed around the captain’s. Even if it was just to save him from going down a path he wouldn’t come back from, the kiss had been warm. There was more than just lust there. Something Leon wasn’t quite sure of yet.

 

No, he couldn’t be selfish.

 

He had a job to do, Leon reminded himself. There was Umbrella. There could be others. He was going off tomorrow to begin intensive training to stop these people. There was so much more at stake here than just his own, fragile feelings. Wanting to save everyone wasn’t easy. He knew that. He just didn’t know until now that people like himself, who  _ did _ want to save everyone, were so...easily broken.

 

“...I’m sorry, you had to...do that.” Leon’s lips moved on their own, before he could stop the words coming out.

 

Chris couldn’t move, he didn’t know what to say. “Leon…”

 

_ Damnit _ . What was he supposed to do now? Leon looked more and more like a lost little puppy, and he’d just kissed the man. Would it look like he just went around kissing random men of his team whenever they were starting to spiral out of control? He sure hoped not.

 

Chris had never kissed anyone but Jill before, and she’d punched him for that. Even then, that’d been a joke between friends--though, the punch did send him staggering back a few feet. She had apologized for it as well.

 

Leon leaned in closer to brush their lips together. Thinking, thinking, thinking and wondering if he had consent to continue. But also wondering,  _ why _ was it he wanted to continue.

 

“You’re fine with kissing me?” Chris asked before he could even begin to wonder as to why he was asking.

 

Leon paused, before realizing he’d been kissing another man. Another man had kissed him. Someone he barely knew.

 

...he’d barely known Ada as well, but at least she had been a woman.

 

“Ugh…” Leon was disgusted with himself. 

 

...was he really that easy? Did it really take so little to get under his skin and weasel his way into his heart? Did it not matter who it was--man, woman; as long as they paid him the least bit amount of attention? Leon had to wonder….

 

...maybe he should’ve played the jock to its fullest back in highschool. No, wait...no, that wasn’t like him. Was it? He didn’t know anymore. Hell, all he’d ever wanted was to be a police officer.

 

“Was I that bad?” Chris snorted light-heartedly; making Leon snap out of his thoughts.

 

Yup. He was dead. He was dead when he got back home.

 

“No-!” Leon blurted out, before stopping himself. “I-I just…”

 

“Sorry, you didn’t need--”

 

“I did. I know, I know I should be better than this.” Leon said, talking to himself as much as he was talking to the captain. “I shouldn’t need someone else to--”

 

This time, Chris was the one who did the interrupting. “No. No, Leon. Sometimes you do need someone else.”

 

It was true--but what was Chris saying? He couldn’t be that person. He couldn’t be...not with the way things were right now. He had no right doing what he’d just done. In fact, this was possibly the worst thing he could’ve done. He’d given this kid, this younger, naive, openly honest Leon with all that hope in his eyes and all that desperation in his voice, permission to use him as an anchor. And he wasn’t going to be around to be that anchor!

 

Still, he couldn’t pull his hand away from Leon.

 

How could he, when Leon’s hands were shaking as they held onto him?

 

“I’m not always going to be there.” Chris finally exhaled his words out; words he knew were true, but didn’t want to express.

 

Leon’s hands shook a fraction more, before they suddenly stiffened, and then relaxed. The captain was right. He couldn’t rely on someone else like that, not when there were things he needed to do alone. Not when there were only things he knew. The government was counting on the fact that he had the experience to deal with those like Umbrella. He couldn’t slow down.

 

Leon’s gaze went to the floor, deep in troubled thoughts and emotion once again. He couldn’t allow himself to slow down.

 

“But I’ll be there when you really need me to be.” Chris added.

 

The look on Leon’s face when the man’s head snapped up to meet his gaze had Chris rethinking everything he’d experienced till now, till this moment, after being thrown back more than a decade and a half ago.

 

Yeah. He always did have Leon’s back. And Leon always had his.

 

“I know I will.” Chris confirmed with himself as much as he did with Leon; the young Leon in front of him.

 

“Captain, you don’t have t--” Leon tried.

 

“I know.” Chris replied quickly, before placing his other hand on top of the ones Leon had on his.

 

Man, Leon really had been such a soft kid.

 

“I’ll...clean up.” Leon said quickly, the red tint returning to his face as he made the first move to pull away from their moment and quickly head to the open kitchen and get the glasses and pitchers in the sink.

 

Chris felt something in his chest swell when he saw Leon leave him standing there. That’s right; it wasn’t right for the kid to get so hung up on something like this--on anything else. He’d already had Ada’s death (and future betrayal) coming his way. He didn’t need any more on his plate from Chris.

 

Chris was proud of that. 

 

.

.

.

 

**\---**

**\--- 2014**

**\---**

 

Leon sighed heavily. This was not going the way they’d thought it would. Then again, when did anything ever did?

 

“In simple English--for Agent Kennedy here...” the technician pauseed.

 

Leon raised a brow at the remark, but didn’t do anything to stop the man from continuing.

 

“When we sent Captain Redfield back in time, the computer systems logged it in as ‘the first test’. The only test that was given permission to run without Arias’s permissions.” he man in the uniform explained. “No authorization from Arias, no further use of the machine.”

 

“Great.” Leon sighed. “So what now?”

 

“I’m sorry?” the technician asked, looking surprised.

 

“What do we need to do to get permissions?” Leon asked.

 

The technician hadn’t even thought that far, Leon surmised, from the look he got. The other man simply looked at Rebecca, who shrugged.

 

“Get used to it.” Rebecca said.

 

In the past few hours, she had gotten to know Leon more than she ever had in the sixteen years they’d both been fighting the same kinds of people, only separately.

 

“We’ll need to call in some top-notch hackers for this.” the technician sighed, conceding.

 

Leon snorted. “You hear that, Hannigan?”

 

_ ‘Loud and clear, Agent Kennedy.’ _ Hannigan replied through his comms.  _ ‘The Division of Security Operations does not condone the use of our staff for cyber-defense in such matters.’ _

 

“ _ But-- _ ?” Leon asked, looking smug.

 

_ “But, there  _ **_is_ ** _ someone already headed your way who can help. In fact, she might already be there.’ _ Hannigan sounded rather annoyed, despite the good news.

 

Rebecca gasped, and jumped forward, grabbing onto Leon reflexively when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Leon grabbed her, turning her away from the perceived danger he had yet to identify and turning to use his body as a shield.

 

“Oh, did I miss out on my chance?” The woman’s smooth voice made Leon’s heart race.

 

Red. She was always always, always wearing red.

 

“Ada…” Leon’s voice piqued, the happiness to see her in his expression also clear.

 

Rebecca groaned, pushing herself away from Leon to yell at the woman. “What’s the big idea!?”

 

“Did I scare you?” Ada chuckled, looking more like the usual, cocky self Leon had grown to adore over the years. “Now, what’s this about  _ permission _ ?”

 

Of course. Ada Wong didn’t need  _ permission _ to do  _ anything _ , Leon remembered. Ada did whatever she pleased. He recalled Los Illuminados for something else entirely than the New York shitshow just a couple days back.

 

A pit in Leon’s gut formed. “We need to get--”

 

“I heard. Let me at the terminal.” Ada cut him off, placing a hand over his lips, before making her way over to the terminal behind the technician.

 

What a woman, Leon thought. Like a phoenix, flying free and burning anything and everyone in her path, not bowing to anyone. Leon sighed. An untouchable woman.

 

“You did me a favor.” Ada elaborated, her hands flying across the keyboard like flaming feathers. “I’m simply repaying it.”

 

Leon was grateful, once again, to have met Ada Wong. Despite her personality and her fleeting interest in anything that wasn’t related to a bit of fun or money--and him,--she wasn’t a bad person at all. Though, Chris wouldn’t agree to that, even after all of this.

 

They really needed to get Chris back, Leon thought wistfully

.

.

.

 

**\---**

**\--- 1998**

**\---**

 

..someone like the captain didn’t need to waste any time on something as trivial as Leon’s personal problems. Leon needed to remind himself of that.

 

“What time should you be at the headquarters?” Chris asked, glancing over at the kid who was checking the two Wing Shooters Chris had given him. “You can keep those.”

 

Leon’s look of surprise and gratitude had Chris’s heartstrings tugging and pulling in all kinds of directions. It was like...like that first crush he ever had on Jill, was the best way he could describe it; only a thousand times worse with all the things he felt his body wanting to do to Leon Scott Kennedy of all people. He didn’t know how else to describe it, actually.

 

Pathetic. The Captain of the Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance was confused about his  _ fragile little feelings _ towards a young man whom he both knew all too well, and yet not at all.

 

“I’ll check in around eight, maybe? Should I go earlier?” Leon asked.

 

“Did they give you a specific time?” Chris answered with a question of his own--how the hell was this kind of disorganization allowed in their government? Granted, maybe the 90’s weren’t as great as he remembered them. “If not, then you should do your regular check-ins…have you been checking in, by the way?”

 

Leon nodded, looking embarrassed before pulling out a small Nokia phone. “Text message, every 7am. Sorry, I...thought you knew. Guess not.”

 

That seemed about right, since Leon had thought he’d been assigned to him, Chris thought. “I’ll take you there after your check-in, as soon as you’re ready to go.”

 

It was hard, being in the same room as Leon after they’d kissed. It’d been an awkward two hours, just putting things away, gun maintenance--during which Chris had taught Leon a few things about the Wing Shooters he’d given him, and now, talking to each other with the dead air of the apartment between them.

 

“I need to check on something.” Chris said quickly, trying to cut the tension between them.

 

Leon almost breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the captain turn to leave--he could feel the tension too--after strapping on his hidden side-arms and a knife just in case. “Oh...can...are you allowed to tell me where and what?”

 

Chris stopped at the door, pulling his boots on and glancing back at Leon with an apologetic look. “Sorry.”

 

“When will you be back?” Leon asked instead, following Chris to the door when the older man gestured with a hand for him to come close. 

 

“Should be in time for dinner.” Chris replied, then noticed something alarming about the situation.

 

There he was, standing at the door, with Leon coming to send him off and asking when he’d be back. The topic of being on time for dinner having just left his mouth. It was so domestic. Everything about today was...so domestic. So...civilian.

 

Chris had forgotten what it was like to be a civilian.

 

Here, with Leon, it felt...natural. Too natural. He was enjoying himself, clearly. Too much, in fact. 

 

“Should I go out and get some or…” Leon trailed off. “Make some?”

 

Chris stopped thinking at the question, which gave rise to one of his own. “You...cook?”

 

Leon visibly hesitated, swallowing a lump in his throat. “Yeah--I know, it’s weird. Leave it to the women, the other guys always say. I get it, but when you live alone and money’s tight--”

 

“What?” Chris made a weird face at the absurd statement. “Who the hell said that? Claire’d rip--”

 

He stopped, nervously keeping his eyes on Leon, wondering if the kid had noticed his mistake. Leon hadn’t, instead averting his gaze elsewhere and stammering his excuses for his ‘homey’, ‘housewifey’ skills until he stopped when Chris spoke.

 

Oh thank god. Whatever god was out there, Chris thought.

 

“Well if you can cook, you can do field missions. You’ll need to learn how to properly prepare wild game though.” Chris stated, trying to sound as professional as he did when he’d first met the kid-version of Leon.

 

...he’d really gotten used to calling Leon a ‘kid’.  _ Shit _ .

 

“Hm?” Leon looked at Chris with confusion--he supposed the conversation still made sense, but was it really connected to the concerns he’d just expressed? “I guess...so…”

 

“Here.” Chris fished out his wallet and handed Leon a hundred dollar bill. “Go out and get whatever you want. I’ll be back by the time you’re done making dinner.”

 

So domestic.

 

_ Leon was going to absolutely murder him when he got back. _

 

Chris left then, before he could be tempted to play out the domestic scene farther than he was allowed to. No, who was he kidding? Everything from seeing Leon nude in the shower, to drying his tears, to holding his face and kissing him--none of that was even close to being alright!

 

With his thoughts messed up and his heartstrings a mess, Chris ventured back towards the secret-but-public headquarters where he had met Leon. He needed to scope the place out. Leon could keep himself out of trouble until then.

 

.

.

.

 

**\---**

**\--- 2014**

**\---**

  
  
  


Leon’s thoughts drifted, as did his hands, tapping from his comms to fiddling with something or other. He was thinking about something. Something other than Ada, that was for sure. For once. Or maybe, she’d just never noticed until now. Something really terrible must have happened for Leon to be so distracted. He was never like this even on missions--always focused.

 

Ada frowned, glancing at Leon from the terminal for just a moment. How rude it was of him, to be thinking of someone else while she was so kindly helping him out right then and there. Ada decided she preferred when those puppy blue eyes were watching her, searching for her earnestly. Afterall, it was a nice feeling to be trusted, for once.

 

Leon was the only one who ever did  _ truly _ trust her, these sixteen years.

 

“You’re a real heartbreaker, Leon.” Ada cooed, smiling.

 

Yeah, she couldn’t break his heart all over again. Not after all these years. Not after he still proved he could trust her, the way they were now. She didn’t need that to change, ever.

 

Rebecca stood there, shaking her head and observing the awkward air between Leon and Ada. On one hand, Leon seemed to be completely smitten with the woman who had managed to avoid capture by anyone and everyone who had been after her.

 

On the other hand, Ada seemed to want to keep the charade they currently had between them up for as long as she could. Being a woman herself, Rebecca concluded this would go on forever.

 

Poor Leon, she thought.

 

“Well, you’ll be good to go in an hour.” Ada informed them both. “If you’re not doing anything else, there’s a lovely, young, bright-eyed thing demanding entry at the front of the building. I think you’d better get some babysitting work done.”

 

Leon had flashbacks to having to stuff Ashley in a dumpster or a knight’s suit of armor to keep her from getting carried away whilst he tried not to die.

 

“It’s not Graham, dear.” Ada laughed. “The other blonde girl.”

 

“Sherry?” Leon spoke up, turning to run towards the building entrance.

 

Sherry was here, now? Why?! She was back?! Wasn’t she supposed to get some work with Jake’s blood for a vaccine done? Seriously!

 

Rebecca watched him go and frowned, turning back to Ada. “You really like stringing him along, don’t you?”

 

“He’s so easy to excite.” Ada replied.

 

Rebecca supposed she would need to be the one to keep an eye on the superspy while Leon was preoccupied with his ‘adoptive’ daughter. Oh, did she have earfuls to tell Chris when he got back.

 

Leon sprinted all the way to the elevator, before finally allowing himself to rest as he went up to the ground floor. It was a long ride--something to be expected from organizations like Arias’s and Umbrella. Ironic that the kind of people whose work he wanted to bury for good, always hid things deep underground. If they’d stayed down here, that would’ve been the best for everyone on this planet.

 

Pushing his bitter thoughts aside, Leon took note of what he say on the way to the elevator. The extraction and sanitation teams had managed to bore a miles-long hole with help from a private company called Tesla, and were taking evidence and other tech up. There had been quite the number of cases containing what seemed to be fetus-like organisms.

 

No wonder Chris had volunteered to come down here with Rebecca. There could still be other bio-weapons. Of course; he should’ve expected this. Leon made up is mind on the way up to see Sherry, that he was going to send her straight home, then get back down there to Rebecca, Ada, and the rest of the teams. Ada could probably handle herself, and Rebecca had seen her fair share of bioweapons, but it didn’t make him any less nervous to think everyone else was down there with hundreds, if not thousands of potential threats simply in stasis or worse; just sleeping.

 

Not to mention, having Sherry down there too. 

 

Sherry leapt, pushing past the guards at the front when she saw him. The dirty blonde hair. The sour face. The annoyed expression. It was Leon alright. Or well, the grumpy old man Leon had become. She tackled him, wrapping her arms around him tightly.

 

“She-RRY!” Leon’s scolding turned into a yell of surprise when he had to stagger back to keep them both from falling over.

 

“Why didn’t you ask for my help!?” Sherry scolded instead.

 

Leon frowned, sighing. It was always like this when he wasn’t on a mission. Sherry may have just become a D.S.O. Agent like he was, but up until then, they’d been spared visits on at least a bi-monthly basis. He’d got to see her grow up, and was thankful for that.

 

Though, he’d need to beat the head in of whomever also approved her being given a mission as dangerous as Jake Muller recovery, aside from Simmons.

 

“Aren’t you supposed to be elsewhere, Sherry?” Leon conceded.

 

“We’ve already synthesized the vaccine and we’re already distributing it worldwide.” Sherry clarified, sounding a little annoyed. “Don’t you watch the news anymore, Leon?”

 

“Don’t have time for that.” Leon shook his head, finally putting his arms around the girl who had grown into a fine young woman.

 

“But you have time to get drunk with Claire’s older brother!” Sherry scolded again. “You’ve got eyebags! You’re clearly still hungover--”

 

“Hey!” Leon cried out when his back pocket was picked.

 

Sherry held up the offending flask. “You’ve been drinking up until now!!”

 

“I’m stressed.” Leon groaned, rubbing his forehead together and loosening an arm from around her.

 

“Leon!”

 

“I got it, I got it. I’ll stop.” Leon promised; he really meant it. “I really will.” He added, when Sherry gave him a disbelieving look. 

 

“Rebecca told me the story.” Sherry said, pursing her lips.

 

Leon visibly flinched. 

 

“Leon…” Sherry slowly let go of him, looking up at the man who had saved her life all those years ago.

 

It was thanks to Leon that she was able to stand there, making her own decisions, going on missions, and even thinking about the future. But what about the man himself? The eyebags under his tired, but still bright blue eyes. There were deep lines in the skin of the courageous, handsome face that had carefully told her of her own mother’s passing. It had been Claire who held her as she cried, but it had been Leon who had decided she deserved to know the truth.

 

In the recent case with Jake, she now realized just how much value that was worth. She had been inclined not to tell him; and now knew that it was because she didn’t trust him at the time, as per what he would do next.

 

Leon had trusted her, even back then, when she had been just a little girl.

 

“You know, you can tell me anything.” Sherry insisted, looking a little crestfallen. “I know we’ve both been busy, but I came down here because Ada said you were having trouble.”

 

Leon suppressed another flinch. “Did she now?”

 

Everyone was worried about him.

 

_ Everyone… _

 

“Well, it went bad on my last mission before...the whole thing with Rebecca.” Leon began to explain.

 

_...everyone huh? _

 

Sherry smiled, and took Leon’s hand to sit down on a public bench outside of the building. The security forces allowed her and the senior D.S.O. agent to pass. They sat down, and Leon began to tell her the story from his perspective. Of course, he didn’t want Sherry to be getting mixed up in anything more, by having information that she wasn’t authorized to know.

 

“The guy who was responsible…” Leon continued, once they were sat down. “He died when the whole thing started. I didn’t have the guts to tell his family.”

 

_...everyone was here. _

 

“Did you ever tell them?” Sherry’s voice was kind, purposefully without the slightest bit of accusation.

 

“No.” Leon admitted, drawing a deep breath and leaning back on the bench, to look up at the sky. “He became just another missing person’s case.”

 

_ Leon wasn’t alone. _

 

_...ah, didn’t someone teach him that a long time ago? _

 

_ Sixteen years ago, in fact... _

 

“I couldn’t tell them that he died after causing the deaths of my men.” Leon clarified further.

 

Sherry kept her gaze on the man who had kept her grounded all these years. The testing. Simmons. Jake. She knew she had people she could go back to--people who were real, and didn’t die. Claire and Leon, and eventually she came to believe in Chris, Hannigan, and even Helena--even after they discovered what she’d done. Of course, Leon was still one of the two people that shared the top of that list she trusted the most.

 

“That’s understandable.” Sherry replied after some thought. “I think that, sometimes, there’s really nothing you can do.”

 

Hah, he was getting lessons from a kid who was less than half his age, Leon mused. “Doesn’t make it any less frustrating, when you can’t.”

 

“It doesn’t.” Sherry replied.

 

Leon felt a weight on his shoulders lift, and he felt himself smile. “All I could do for them was leave a tip.”

 

“A tip?” Sherry asked, looking confused.

 

“They managed to relocate. Find nice places to work. The whole nine yards.” Leon shrugged, craning his head back to look at the skyscraper he’d fought on the roof of. 

 

Sherry laughed. “That’s very like you, Leon.”

 

Yup. Leon hadn’t changed at all. No, maybe that was wrong. Leon had maybe picked up a few things from Ada when it came to blackmail and twisting people’s arms. But Leon was still doing things for other people’s sake.

 

“Is it?” Leon straightened up, looking at her. 

 

In all honesty, Leon thought she’d be disappointed in him too, just as Rebecca had been when he’d fought Chris at that bar.

 

“Really.” Sherry nodded earnestly, adding what she honestly thought of him--but also knowing that maybe, maybe it was something he needed to hear. “You haven’t changed at all.”

 

In fact, Leon and Claire had been the two people who’d taught her that it was okay to reply on other people--especially when she needed it the most; her parents hadn’t exactly been there, even if they had loved her. She understood that now, but she wouldn’t have come to such an understanding if it wasn’t for either of them. Sometimes, they just needed a reminder.

 

“Thanks, Sherry.” Sometimes, Leon just needed someone to understand, he realized.

 

_...someone like…-- _

 

Sherry’s eyes were wide when she met his gaze. When had he started to look at her? She recognized that expression. It was the same one he gave her when they had made it safely onto the train. The look of sincerity that told her that from then on, he would make sure nothing bad ever happened to her; no matter how near or far or how hard he was to find.

 

“WOAH-!”

 

Leon fell of the bench as Sherry leapt at him and hugged him tight.

  
  


.

.

.

 

**\---**

**\--- 1998**

**\---**

 

Leon was stuck.

 

He pondered, looking at the red tomato and deciding that it was ready to eat the same night, else it would spoil almost right away. That explained the low, low price. He furrowed his brow. He was cooking tonight...for more than one, once.

 

As he examined another tomato and began comparing the two, he could feel the looks he was getting from some of the other shoppers.

 

“Oh honey, are you having trouble?” 

 

Leon blinked and turned. It was a woman. She looked to be about thirty years and had a very concerned look.

 

“Did you mother ask you to pick up the groceries today? Need help?”

 

Leon managed an awkward. “Uh, no I...I’m here for myself…”

 

Leon lived alone. For as long as he could remember. It had been his usual response; afterall, what else was he supposed to say?

 

“Oh.” The woman was surprised. “I’m sorry, you don’t live with your parents?”

 

They were always surprised.

 

“No, ma’am. I’m twenty-one.” Leon explained.

 

Ever since he’d turned eighteen, it was easier to explain that he lived alone. Maybe one day he’d stop looking like a freshmen or a rookie and people would actually treat him like a man...

 

“I see. So…” the woman seemed to want to chat some more. “You can cook?”

 

Leon fumbled through the conversation, “Had to learn, I mean, living at the dorms for the police academy and all...uh...you know-”, all the while, letting his mind wander.

 

He thought about the academy, how rigorous the training had been, how...distant, his classmates had all been as well. It was expected; afterall, they weren’t kids anymore. You never knew were you were heading to after graduating. It was a shame, really. Leon had really hoped to make long-time friends. Who knows, maybe they could’ve ended up at the same department one day. 

 

“Arklay Valley! That’s a long way from here.” The woman exclaimed, a hand poised over her open mouth.

 

Leon smiled. “Yes ma’am.”

 

It was tough growing up on the outskirts of a major city that was still a long, lonely stretch of road through the desert drive away. Arklay Valley had been one of those small satellite towns. It had a couple factories where businesses from Racoon City sourced their metalworks, and that had been all it took to get the little town started and booming.

 

There of course, was a local school system that was eventually implemented, and as Racoon City thrived, so did the little towns around it, which eventually were just turning into far-away suburbs.

 

Oh. 

 

He hadn’t thought about home until now--aside from the fleeting thought that he wasn’t allowed to leave and get some of his things. Was...there even a home to go back to?

 

Arklay Valley High had been a tough place when you had no parents.

 

Though it was tough, Leon couldn’t remember a single person who had been unkind to him. Sure, there had been squabbles and quarrels every now and then, especially when you were on the footballs team like he and his friends were.

 

He remembered each of their names and faces, and even the dumb nicknames they’d given each other. His own had been “Scotty”, because of his middle name. Though, Leon figured that it was also because the quarterback, a big guy they called several names--though the only one Leon remembered now was “Big Chunk”--decided Leon’s dirty blonde hair was similar to his dearly departed puppy of the same name.

 

Leon mused at the memory; one of countless others of names, faces, parties, sleepovers, all because everyone knew he no longer had anyone to go home to.

 

Everyone had been really kind to him growing up.

 

Leon’s brows furrowed as he put the tomato in his basket. What had happened to Arklay Valley? He’d heard that the towns surrounding Racoon City had been evacuated, but he didn’t know how to contact anyone other than their home phones…

 

...going to the police academy meant leaving everyone behind when he was assigned to Racoon City, as he’d always dreamed.

 

“Did you hear about Racoon City?” 

 

Leon’s attention was suddenly back to the present. 

 

Marvin, Elliot, Claire, Sherry, Ada...he remembered them. And Chris...Leon really hoped that Claire would find him. He knew what it felt like. Though admittedly, not having siblings meant he didn’t know exactly what it was like for Claire.

 

“Well, I’m glad you made it out of there. I heard the towns all around had been evacuated, but it’s still quite worrying.”

 

Leon blinked. “...oh.”

 

_...ah, yeah, he had been lonely. _

 

He’d been lonely for a long time. An empty house. Quietly doing chores. Moving to an equally empty apartment. Focus. Stop sulking. He was there to find stuff to make into food. Still...

 

_ Nobody should ever feel lonely like that. _

 

_ That’s why he had joined the force. _

 

_ “ _ Well uh…” the woman seemed flustered, like she’d wanted something and hadn’t gotten it.

 

“Yes ma’am?” Leon asked, sincerely.

 

“Oh, I’ll be going.” she said, before smiling and waving her goodbye.

 

Leon felt bad--he hadn’t meant to be so absent-minded in that conversation; afterall, it’d been awhile since he’d had a normal conversation...aside from when he was with the Captain.

 

He walked over to the pumpkin leaves and squash flowers. Picking out the freshest squash flowers and pumpkin leaves, he decided he had enough to make dinner that night, and breakfast for tomorrow morning. There was someone who's looked after him afterall. 

 

It was nice, having someone expecting him to be there when they got back, for once.

 

Even if was just all in Leon’s head. It was weird, actually. Alien. The feeling was unfamiliar. Now, Leon was also worrying about all sorts of things.

 

Was the captain into gourmet?

 

Would the captain like squash flowers?

 

Would it be weird that a man knew how to cook gourmet?

 

Would the captain tell him his name if he liked dinner, or maybe breakfast?

 

“Ugh…” Leon groaned as he looked at the basket, checking everything over, before heading to check out.

 

Really, he could just keep calling him ‘the captain’ or ‘captain’, but what if after this government thing started, there’d be other people who were also captains? He’d still remember that face, though, wouldn’t he? But...was it really so bad to ask for his name? Besides, what kind of division did he work in, if it was more military?

 

Urgh. Leon could still remember how that kiss felt.

 

His name.

 

Leon just wanted to know. He could ask, couldn’t he?

 

...if he was going to go off somewhere again, especially to fight against Umbrella, and others like them, he could at least ask for that. Everyone back home, everyone back at the police station...

 

...it was the same as being alone, all over again, that terrible night his parents died.

 

Leon was stuck.

 

\---

 

Chris found way too many holes in the building’s security. It was easy enough to walk into the same exit he and Leon had taken, right at the front door, simply slipping in behind someone who had a passkey.

 

Turning down the opposite hallway to where the man ahead of him had been walking, helped him blend into the rest of the staff. He remembered now, how sometimes their superiors back in the military didn’t even know their names unless they had a clipboard with them.

 

Chris felt a little bit of relief when he realized he could remember the names and faces of all his B.S.A.A. staff and operatives. The government really had been more vulnerable back in the day than he’d known.

 

He’d need to tell Leon when he got back. Maybe their current government could benefit from such information and an update to their methods, especially since the recent loss of their last president.

 

Damn, Leon did had it tough.

 

Turning down a few hallways he’d memorized from the old schematics they were given from his army days 14 years ago, he managed to find his way to the meeting room Leon had indicated he needed to be at with ease. Getting out of the building should have also been easy.

 

Quickly looking around the room, he was able to determine that there were no hidden passages or anything of the sort. Satisfied, he left the room and made his way down a separate set of hallways at the first intersection. 

 

Already knowing which way lead to the interrogation rooms, and which way lead to the infirmary, Chris decided he would make his way down the third hallway. In the schematics, it seemed to lead into the offices and briefing rooms. There had been no signs on the wall--no wonder Leon had gotten lost--something else Chris chalked up to the times and frowned upon.

 

Making his way through, he wasn’t surprised to find the offices in a buzz. It was still just days after Racoon City afterall. Too many questions from the media--not everyone believed the cover story for the nuke that turned the bustling metropolis-turned-zombie-home into a canyon.

 

Chris felt a little bit of nostalgic remorse for not being able to see the Racoon City Police Station before it vanished from existence, even with the chance to go back in time.

 

Observing the office going about it’s hectic pace was also surprisingly easy. It seemed everyone was too caught-up in their work and the heat that was on them to notice he was a face that didn’t belong. Keeping to the end of the hallway and not drawing attention to himself seemed to be enough to not be noticed at all. Security here was terrible, Chris inwardly remarked.

 

There was nothing else for him here.

 

Chris decided that he’d leave and go see if Leon had made it home yet. Passing by a briefing room, he was surprised to now find it occupied by a single person.

 

Now, that wasn’t right.

 

Chris’s gut instinct kicked in. From his experience, anyone in a private room alone, was never alone. Most likely, they were doing something that they didn’t want anyone to see, hear, or know about.

 

Fighting between the knowledge it’d be better to let it go, since with his situation there wasn’t anything he could do to change the future, and the gut instinct to root out Umbrella and those like them, Chris slowed down past the room enough to hear something that made him stop in his tracks.

 

“Kennedy, Sir. Leon Scott Kennedy.”

 

_ Leon? _

 

Chris leaned in closer to the door, thankful that he hadn’t walked past the open window that viewed into the room just yet.

 

“No sir. Seems he’s the only survivor they’ve found.”

 

Wrong information. Which means whoever this was, they weren’t clued into Sherry, and were probably giving out confidential information to a third party. Umbrella? Someone else? Either way, it was trouble, Chris knew.

 

“Yes sir. We’ve already dispatched a cell to neutralize the possible threat.”

 

Chris’s gut dropped.

 

_ Leon. It had to be Leon.  _

 

If Chris was correct, this would have been right around the time he and the rest of his team were running around like dumb-ass chickens after what happened in the Arklay Mansion. 

 

_ Wesker would have been feeding information to his associates, including those in Umbrella.  _

 

With contacts in the government overseeing the aftermath of Raccoon City’s destruction--who didn’t know of his two-faced play--he could easily find out who had survived.

 

The government currently only had eyes on two survivors; Leon and Sherry. With Sherry locked away safely--which, Chris thought bitterly was also a lie he couldn’t do anything about in his current situation--Leon was the only other survivor they would need to worry about.

 

Leon knew how to kill a T-series T-103 model “tyrant”, among other things, according to The Kennedy Report Chris remembered reviewing and taking notes from several times in his own missions throughout the years.

 

_ He needed to get back to Leon. _

 

\---

 

Leon jumped at the person heading down the stairs. Really...everything was scaring him now. Maybe he should’ve reconsidered taking that detour to the internet cafe before heading back.

 

The web had been upgraded greatly recently, and although Leon had yet to have a personal computer of his own, internet cafes proved to be very useful when it came to needing access to information. Though, he wasn’t sure whether or not he should’ve looked up what he had…

 

...did men really do it from the butt?

 

Ah, damn. He felt filthy just thinking about the fact that he’d used not just one, but three different search engines to look for that sort of thing. But...if...if he’d asked the captain…

 

...no, no, no, there was no way he’d ask the captain to--

 

...was he really that easy? No, he was just curious, Leon told himself. 

 

Yeah. That was it. Sighing heavily, Leon was glad when he finally made it to the front door of the temporary home he and the captain shared. Fishing his keys out, his thoughts were still plagued by the things he’d learned.

 

...was the captain really...well, a  _ homo _ ? And worst of all, did Leon really not mind? That wasn’t normal, was it? Maybe Leon really had been ruined by that terrible night. Maybe he really didn’t have what it took to be doing this sort of thing…

 

...how far was he going to let himself fall for the sake of stopping Umbrella?

 

He’d never thought about it before. Exactly what kind of person did it take to stop something like that? Those people...that organization just turned an entire city into shambling, mindless, flesh-hungry monsters. Leon knew that they needed to be stopped but...how was someone like him supposed to try and do that? 

 

Just want kind of person did he have to become?

 

Just want kind of person was he... _ willing _ to become?

 

How many more people had to suffer like that, until Leon got his shit together and manned up? Did it really matter what he needed to do? Who he needed to become, in order to be capable of such an impossible task?

 

If he slipped now, and lapsed into that horrid, desperate state...he couldn’t help anyone. Maybe, it was alright...to ask the captain if--

 

_ “Blurgh…uu...ueegh...” _

 

Leon paused, hands holding the keys, a sound from inside the apartment sending his senses into overdrive. 

 

_ “Euggh…aaee...” _

 

There was one more, pitiful, bloated-sounding groan, before it was followed by another, and another. He knew those sounds. Leon’s eyes grew wide and chills tingles up from his fingers at the door, holding the keys, all the way up his arm to the rest of his body. Oh god. Oh god no.

 

_ Behind the door. More shamblers. _

 

Leon took a deep breath, putting the groceries down slowly, the crinkle of the plastic bags making his nerves twitch at the slightest sound. No, ‘they’ hadn’t noticed him yet. But ‘they’ would soon. He needed to move before ‘they’ did.

 

_ How many? No, it didn’t matter, he wasn’t going to die here. _

 

In one smooth motion, Leon drew his gun, turned and kicked the door in, the five shamblers turning to face him. 

 

What greeted Leon was a bloodied, rotting face, torn by fingers and teeth, exposing teeth and grabbing fingers. Hungry teeth, ravenous fingers, dead eyes. There were always more of the same, hungry teeth, the same ravenous, bloodied fingers, the same, cold, dead, greyed eyes--an infection spreading via teeth and hands to make more infected teeth and hands…

 

**BANG!**

 

The face was gone. The mouth turned into pieces, like buckshot, flying across the air.

 

_ “UAARGH!” _

 

_ “EUUGH!” _

 

There were others, alerted by the sound of the gunshot. Leon could only glance fast enough to count four others. Counting the body on the floor, that was five.

 

A large one, one who must have been quite the sportsman in life charged him.

 

**_BANG! BANG! BANG!_ **

 

A bullet in the rubs, twho in the shoulder, one in the though--shit! Leon realized his hands were shaking. He needed to breathe, he needed to--

 

“GUH-!” 

 

Leon found himself being pushed back, almost toppling over. No! If they got him on the ground, it would be over! He’d need the same fate as so many others! They’d sink their teeth into his neck, tearing into skin and meat and ripping him apart!

 

A cold chill ran up Leon’s spine, followed by the searing heat of adrenaline. He pushed forward, his boots finding grip on the carpeted floor. The momentum that the rotting creature had quickly came to a stop as Leon managed to hold his ground.

 

Leon saw the next move coming--the undead were simple afterall. The rotting hands redoubled their efforts and shoved him back, which Leon allowed. With a quick spin--

 

CRACK!

 

Kicking the undead thing’s head, causing it to snap from one side to the other.

 

BAM!

 

“Gh-hah-!”

 

...what?

 

Leon was sure he’d nailed it right in the head. How was it able to strike back?

 

The impact against his face sending him reeling, resulting in him dropping matilda.

 

“Uuehgghh!” the creature belched, grabbing onto him in his moment of weakness, sending them both to the floor.

 

Terror shot through Leon’s veins has he wound up in the one situation he didn’t want to be in. Shit. Shit! It was going to eat him! Leon’s hands shot up, pushing back on the rotting undead’s face as it tried to snap at him, hungry for his flesh.

 

Suddenly, the thing snapped it’s head back, Leon’s hands losing their grip on it’s face.

 

**BAM** !

 

It smashed it’s head into his, causing Leon to see stars. ” _ AGH- _ !”

 

**BAM** !

 

“ _ GH- _ !”

 

Another hit, this time against his ribs. Leon didn’t think about how or why the shambler was acting so strangely. Perhaps it was a habit leftover from it’s life. He vaguely recalled one of the more husky officers, still trying to get to the food inside the vending machine, even after death.

 

BAM!

 

“Ueggh!” Lost in his own thought, Leon failed to see the next strike, directly into his gut.

 

He felt the stinging and the sour taste bubble up from his throat, before bile came sputtering out of his mouth. Leon twisted, turning to wretch onto the floor out of instinct, so as not to choke on his own vomit.

 

“Gah-!” Leon gasped, feeling a hard whiplash against his ribs, sending him into the wall.

 

Was this thing some kind of bully in life? It wouldn’t surprise him.

 

The room spun as Leon took a peek, having shut his eyes from the sheer amount of pain. He might have a fractured rib. Stars and red danced in his vision, having him hoping it was from being dazed and that he hadn’t been infected.

 

“Ureghhh…! Uffg...uugh….”

 

_ Shit _ . There were still others in the room who’d want a piece of him too.

 

“Bluehh--” the one that had thrown him into the wall approached, being the closest, it’d be the quickest one to reach him.

 

Leon turned, spitting in the thing’s face, his gut instinct driving his actions. Sure enough, like it was still alive, the thing reeled back in what seemed to be surprise. Taking his chance, Leon leapt forward, grabbing Matilda and firing her three times.

 

_ BANG! BANG! BANG! _

 

The gunshots rang in his ear. Leon heard a high pitched shrill following. Being exposed to gunfire for an entire night could really do things to a man.

 

“eeeEEEEuuu….” With a thud, the rotting corpse was on the floor.

 

Leon got up, quickly raising Matilda.

 

“EEEEIIII!” 

 

Suddenly, a second one was on him, then a third! Leon opened his mouth to yell in surprise, finding the two new assailants to be covered in thick, green vines. But he barely got a breath out, before horrible, itchy, leaf-covered hands closed around his throat. 

 

“Urgh...ea...kk...gh….” Leon’s thoughts flew into a panic--it was choking him!

 

He could see the bulbous growths on the vines that wrapped around the body start to pulsate. Was it going to infect him? Was it trying to subdue him to take over his body. Why would it--no, it wasn’t the time to ask about that.

 

“...gu-..a...aa…” He was running out of breath, everything was going white.

 

In an adrenaline-fueled, he could only think of doing one thing, despite knowing that it wouldn’t work. His body flailed, thrashing, as if already in death throes, before his hands somehow found what he’d been looking for.

 

**_BANG!_ **

 

Leon’s hands were stiff. He found himself on his feet, shocked. He couldn’t remember what he’d just done. Looking at his hands, he found himself holding two guns--the wing-shooters that the Captain had left him. When had he fired? When had he gotten up?

 

Everything was spinning, but he didn’t find himself toppling over. The feeling was nauseating, and he couldn’t help but feel like he needed to vomit.

 

It was Racoon City all over again.

 

The two bodies lay on the floor. Judging from what Leon remembered back in the Greenhouse of Umbrella’s underground lab, they wouldn’t stay down for long. Glancing over, he saw the rather strong one that had dealt him several blows, still moving, shuffling towards him. Near them was the first infected corpse he killed.

 

There had been five.

 

...where was the last one?!

 

Leon glanced around, not seeing it anywhere. He walked forward anxiously. He was the tastiest thing in this room--perfect bait for luring it out. He swallowed nervously, but his hands had stopped shaking.

 

_ Tap. Tap. Tap. _

 

No. He wasn’t going to die here.

 

_ Tap. Tap. _

 

That’s right, come on out. Tasty human, right here.

 

_ Tap. _

 

A red blur leapt out from behind the counter--a licker! Shit, shit! It was a licker! 

 

“AAH!” Leon screamed, his voice cracking in surprise.

 

Instinctively, he raised his hand, a stinging pain telling him that one of the licker’s claws slashed through his arm. They fell together, the licker right on top of him, putting all of its weight on him. Leon could barely breathe, the majority of the thing’s mass on his stomach, almost crushing his diaphragm.

 

He thrashed, kicking and flailing, trying to get the thing off of him. He flailed enough to allow himself to take in much needed air. In all his thrashing, the licker seemed to grow more agitated.

 

“HAAAA!” it thing screeched in his face.

 

Leon thought he was going to wet himself. He knew what followed that sound. Frantically, he kicked and thrashed even harder, fear now fueling him more than the adrenaline did.

 

A claw sank into his side, smashing against his ribs under the flesh.

 

“AARGH!” Leon screamed, grabbing the thing’s brain where it should have had a face and threw himself forward.

 

**THUNK** !

 

His forehead connected with the brain tissue, which proved harder than he had expected. But he felt no pain, only the impact against his own forehead. The licker screeched, leaping off of him and landing on the floor across the room, crouched on all fours.

 

Leon scrambled, sliding off the counter and onto the floor, using the counter to balance himself. He glanced down, seeing the claw embedded into his side filled him with dread, on top of the terror. He couldn’t pull it out. Not now.

 

Getting on all fours so as to lessen himself as a target, Leon slipped the combat knife that the Captain had left him, glaring at the licker, who was eyeing him up hungrily.

 

He wasn’t going to die here.

 

Gripping the knife, Leon fell into the sheer horror, allowing it to drive his senses. He’d need that rush. He was going to sink the knife right into the things brai-

 

_ CRACK _ !

 

A solid boot came out of nowhere, nailing the licker right in the temple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author’s Note END: 
> 
> So JUUUST some reference for the internet-related stuff. According to this post on Quora: “The Telecommunications Act of 1996 opened the door to a new class of service provider that could offer higher speed access ("broadband") through DSL or cable, so affordable megabit or near-megabit links were becoming available by 1998. I think I was in the brink of updating my 128kbps ISDN line to a 384 kbps DSL at the time.”
> 
> So I just went with that. I mean, there had to be some form of internet cafe somewhere that all the kids Leon’s age would’ve known were around. But getting to one would definitely take more effort than just spotting one near Walmart and getting that lucky. Still, plot! No? Okay.
> 
> EDIT:  
> I’m so sorry I took this chapter down! I realised that there was massive plot potential for the next chapter, but after I had written it, realised that Chapter 4 didn’t quite match, but the scheduled chapter had already gone up!
> 
> I know I’ve been distracted with DMC5 lately, please forgive me! I hope you enjoyed this anyway!

**Author's Note:**

> Author’s Note END:
> 
> Yehey! I’m trying another Resident Evil pairing! I’m sorry if I’m a little fuzzy on some of the RE franchise details. I grew up playing the games, but I did manage to miss a couple (Like Darkside Chronicles), and I’m not too huge of a fan of Vendetta to be honest. There was just something so gloomy about Leon in that one that seemed very out of character to me. But I guess everyone gets old…?
> 
> I dunno. Welp, I wanted this to be as canon as possible, despite the ridiculous premise I took from a doodle on twitter. Like it says in the screenshot at the beginning, this was done after my 50-likes goal was hit! So I guess it was because enough people wanted to see me write this...uh, tada?
> 
> Hopefully this wasn’t too painful to read for some of you long-time Chreon fans. I’ll do my best to finish this well. Chapter 2 is already partially written but I’ve got a busy weekend ahead of me! Wish me luck! 
> 
> If you want to berate me for this trashfic, feel free to do so on twitter? Aheh. You can find me @HPrincess06 if you feel like it!
> 
> Cheers,  
> HentaiPrincess06


End file.
